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Vol.7, No 33, October 26, 1999 

Reviewer suggests --The Shining,' --Nightshift'

Hollywood offers many selections for the season of the witch and for a weekly column like this, recommending only a few can be murder.
 
Don Weberg

Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd star in this week's brainy horror film, "The Shining."

Despite the well-known title of this 1980 Warner Brothers film I've found that few people have actually seen it, so it easily qualifies for the semi-unknown film category. That is to say, many have heard of it, but few have seen it.

This film, much like "April Fool's Day," has the most twisted ending, but everything else before is sheer terror.   Definitely one of the scariest films I've ever seen, "The Shining" still keeps me up at night, despite numerous viewings.

Jack Torrance (Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker of the remote, posh and historic Overlook Hotel.

A school teacher looking to become a writer, Torrance finds that the job allows him solitude and freedom to work on his novel. Everything seems to be on the up and up, until slowly the audience sees a dark shift in Torrance's attitude as his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and child, Danny (Danny Lloyd) helplessly watch.

The son, however, gifted by certain psychic abilities, allow him to foresee what's coming, including his father's final, violent mental breakdown.

"Nightshift," a collection of short stories by Stephen King, is the source of short a film called "Children of the Corn."

The 1984 film did well at the box office but not so with most critics. That's too bad. The film inspired me to avoid Nebraska at all costs.

The move stars Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton who play a married couple on their way to Chicago to start a new life.

During their otherwise promising road trip, they pass through Gatlin, Nebraska and find something that was never supposed to be found. The town appears to be abandoned until The Children appear.

After 20 minutes of the movie, sheer terror begins. Assets of this film is include its shock value and its suspenseful, long-winded terror. The audience knows what's going to happen, they just don't know when.

Both "The Shining" and "Children of the Corn" are great horror films from one of the masters of terror, Stephen King. Check --em out this weekend between cram sessions.

According to some, last week's trivia question was a tad too easy; What substance did Hitchcock use, in place of red dye, as blood for the famous shower scene in his 1960 hit, Psycho? Hershey's Syrup was the answer.

For this week the trivia is a little harder: How long did it take John Carpenter to write the original "Halloween?" Bonus question: Who helped him write it?

 

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Forty-Niner Publications,
Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach
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