‘You’re just another Halloween mask...’
If you haven’t read Stephen King’s The Shining, the prospect of a TV remake of Kubrick’s film adaptation, widely regarded as the greatest horror film of all time, must seem absolutely insane. Readers of the book, however, will know that Kubrick took the bones of the story from King’s novel but not the heart. King has always had beef with Kubrick’s version and sought to right that wrong just over 15 years after the original film adaptation with this TV redo. If you can set aside Kubrick’s version for a moment (or rather for 273 minutes, which is how long this thing is), then there is actually plenty to enjoy here…
The story is essentially the same. After being forced out of his teaching job due to assaulting a student, Jack Torrance (Steven Weber) takes a job as the winter caretaker at the imposing Overlook Hotel. He brings with him his loving but fragile wife, Wendy (Rebecca De Mornay), and his troubled son, Danny (Courtland Mead). Elsewhere, Melvin Van Peebles takes the role of Dick Hallorann and Elliott Gould appears as Stuart Ullman (the hotel manager).
Written by King himself and directed by his regular collaborator Mick Garris (The Stand, Riding the Bullet), this TV iteration restores many of the set pieces left out of Kubrick’s version. The hedge maze animals coming to life is back (for better or worse), as is the suddenly revived wasp’s nest (a truly horrifying moment in the book, well rendered here). More importantly, however, the Torrances are much closer to their book counterparts than they are in the film version. We see Jack as a loving father and husband here for much of the run time, and when shit does go south, Weber, who is excellent throughout, wisely eschews attempting a Jack Nicholson impression and instead brings something new to the character. De Mornay is great also and the two of them convince as a struggling married couple. Unfortunately, and I think it’s ok to say this now as the actor in question is nearly forty (he was born the day after me, in fact), Courtland Mead is a truly catastrophic child actor. He’s unconvincing, laboured and honestly really quite annoying. The action grinds to a halt whenever he appears (which is often) and this, more than anything to do with the script or the budget, hobbles this TV adaptation and ensures that it never threatens to become more than a three-star show.
The TV version of The Shining has unfairly garnered a reputation for being terrible and while it doesn’t come close to matching the TV version, it is a better (or should I say more accurate) adaptation of the source material and if nothing else, this justifies the show’s existence.