There's a delirious hilarity to The Shining, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic. Granted, it's buried underneath layers of truly disturbing imagery, but the humor is always there. Kubrick had a penchant for finding the funny side to his material, and peppering it throughout the movie. This is most obvious in Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, and A Clockwork Orange, but is present in virtually every one of his post-Spartacus pictures. In many ways, the humor helps put the more serious elements into perspective, making them feel even more important than they would have been by themselves.

By now, the story of The Shining is pretty well known. An aspiring writer, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), takes a job as a caretaker of a secluded mountain retreat during the winter months, where the location is closed off from the rest of the world. Before Jack takes the job he's warned that the months without human contact have led some of the previous caretakers to become unhinged and sometimes violent. Jack doesn't see any issues, saying he's looking for solitude in order to finish his novel. Keeping him company are his indecisive wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and deeply internal son Danny (Danny Lloyd). Danny has an imaginary friend known as Tony, who speaks through Danny in a croaking voice. When the family gets up to the retreat, they encounter the last staff member, Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) before he leaves. Dick spends some time with Danny, telling him that Tony isn't just imaginary, he's a manifestation of a supernatural force called "The Shining." And then, with Dick gone, the three are alone in the mountain estate.

At first, things seem to be going along fine. Wendy feels invigorated by the fresh air, dutifully cleaning the rooms. Jack seems to be making headway with his book. And Danny spends hours and hours riding through the hallways on his tricycle. But it wouldn't be a Kubrick film if everything was hunky dory. The first sign of trouble comes from Danny, who sees a vision of twin girls mutilated and murdered. He has outbursts and nightmares, and Tony seems to be talking through him more and more often. Jack also becomes increasingly erratic, talking to people who aren't there, and becoming rude and sometimes even violent with Wendy and Danny. Eventually Wendy isn't sure that Jack is in his right mind anymore, and the situation turns dire.

The Shining is based on a book of the same name by horror guru Stephen King. It was one of his higher profile adaptations (the other really big one prior was Brian De Palma's take on Carrie), but this was Stanley Kubrick, who always put his own stamp on everything he did. King had littered the book with supernatural occurances, making it clear that the Overlook Hotel is alive and malicious. Kubrick does away with many of these events, leaving it up to the audience to decide just what is supernatural and what isn't. Indeed, many of the scenes where Jack talks to ghosts can be construed as Jack talking to himself, and imagining all the other people. This is reinforced by the fact that every scene where Jack converses with a ghost features a mirror, suggesting that Jack may simply be looking at himself and seeing something that isn't there.

The Shining is a genuinely scary film. Even though I've seen the movie countless times, it still gets to me. Kubrick summons such a sense of dread and inevitability that one can't help but get sucked in. When Danny encounters the twins in the hallway, the effect is chilling. Similarly, Jack's visit to room 237 is incredibly disturbing, especially for men. I still have a hard time watching it. Kubrick's slow, deliberate camera seems to point the way towards ruin and death, and the film feels like a modern day Fall of the House of Usher.

Nicholson is on fire in one of his all-time best performances. King was worried that casting Nicholson would be too much of a tip-off to the audience that Torrance would end up crazy, but Nicholson does an excellent job of appearing like a normal joe for the opening acts of the movie. He may act like an asshole, but an honest asshole nonetheless. And his descent into madness is at times hilarious (the bar scene with Joe Turkel is particularly funny), at others chilling, and by the end, iconic. After all, who doesn't know the "Heeeere's Johnny!" line? But watching it again, it's the transformation from frustrated novelist to raging psychopath that really interests me.

Shelley Duvall plays Wendy as perhaps the most put-upon woman in all of cinema. You can tell she feels responsible for keeping the family together at any cost, and as Jack begins his slow spiral into insanity, it takes its toll on her, as well. Danny Lloyd is mostly monotone in his first of two acting roles. Presumably this is what Kubrick wanted, as Danny is meant to be a withdrawn character. He does do a nice job of conveying terror, which makes it even funnier when you discover that Lloyd had no clue has was making a horror movie. Kubrick shielded Danny from any actual horror scenes, simply asking him to play a range of emotions when it came to reaction shots. He would then use the takes of Danny looking scared. Lloyd said he only found out later that the film was meant to be scary when he saw it on TV.

And this brings me back to the subject of humor. Yes, The Shining is a strikingly effective horror movie, but I'll be damned if it doesn't make me laugh out loud every time I watch it. Nicholson's over the top antics just can't be taken wholly seriously, and I think Kubrick knew it. When Jack talks to Grady, it's both hilarious and terrifying. When he encounters the woman in room 237 he has a shit eating grin on his face that can't help but make you chuckle inwardly. There are other things, too, like the framed poster of a naked woman with a fro above Scatman Crothers' bed, for example. Or take any of the numerous scenes where Jack is verbally abusing Wendy. I think the movie's genuine scares often overshadow the clearly intentional humor that Kubrick intended the film to have all along.

I believe it's the interplay of these elements that make the picture so successful. The audience, fully expecting a horror experience to make them jump out of their seats, are blind sided by the film's slow pace and humorous stretches. Then, just as they are lulled into thinking that perhaps Kubrick has pulled one over on them, he pulls out all the stops for some of the most visceral and thrilling sequences of terror ever put on the silver screen. Like all of Kubrick's work, The Shining continues to reveal new aspects of itself, even after all these years.

The HD DVD:

The Image:
Warner Bros. presents The Shining in a 1.78:1 VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer. Like many of the Kubrick films recently released on HD DVD and Blu-ray, this is the first time The Shining has appeared in a widescreen aspect ratio, due to Kubrick's request that previous versions be released open matte. For a movie inching towards the 30-year mark, The Shining looks very impressive in its high def debut. What struck me the most was the level of detail. You can see lines where the carpet was laid down, little touches in the hotel's decor, and so much more. This really helps in conveying the scope of the film, which I don't think has ever been captured on home video before. Additionally, the color reproduction is miles above the previous releases, finally allowing us to see the film's color pallet as Kubrick intended. At the same time, this is a movie from 1980, shot on rather grainy stock, and with diffuse lighting. The grain is very noticeable here (not a drawback, mind you), and at times due to the shooting style some of the shots look very soft. As this is all part of the way Kubrick wanted it to look, I have no problems with it. I did notice a few instances of minor artifacting, but unless you're looking closely you probably won't even notice.

The Audio:
Warner Bros. offers up a lossless Dolby True HD 5.1 mix for our listening pleasure on The Shining. Kubrick never really had much use for surround mixes outside of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Warner hasn't done much to bring The Shining in line with modern audience's expectations. To be fair, any major changes made would more than likely sound wholly artificial, anyway. What we get is mostly a stereo mix. The score, a mix of original Wendy Carlos compositions and classical pieces, is spread to the rears, but only ever so slightly. What I did like, though, was the sense of space. In the large hallways of the Overlook, Jack and even Wendy's voices echo satisfyingly across the sound stage.

The Supplements:
Warner has replicated all of the special features of the new standard DVD release that has just come out. None of them are in high definition.

• The Making of The Shining with optional director's commetary: The Shining was one of the few Warner Bros. Kubrick films on DVD to get any special features. Specifically, it got this, a 30-minute documentary shot by Vivian Kubrick, Stanley's daughter. While not entirely comprehensive, Vivian has access to the set that no outsider would ever have achieved, allowing her to catch candid moments in a fly-on-the-wall style. Stanley spends a lot of time going over the then-new Steadicam technology, and we see several takes of the operator following Danny on his tricycle. Also shown are moments of the infamous Kubrick/Duvall clash, with Kubrick tearing down Shelley Duvall over her inability to hit a mark. Vivian Kubrick provides a commentary, which focuses more on her father than The Shining. An insightful look into the set of the world's most famous recluse filmmaker.
• Commentary by Steadicam Inventor/Operator Garrett Brown and Historian John Baxter: The combination of a Steadicam inventor and a historian sounds about as interesting as dry toast and water, but the two are surprisingly engaging. Brown focuses on the production and what it was like to work with Kubrick. Baxter focuses more on the finished product. An addition that shouldn't have worked, but does.
• View From the Overlook - Crafting The Shining: An overview of the production of the film, with loads of interviews from collaborators and admirers. Jack Nicholson and screenwriter/author Diane Johnson provide the most compelling information, giving us some real insight into Stanley's process.
• The Visions of Stanley Kubrick: A review of the filmmaker's catalog, this one has some footage that appears in the supplements of the other Kubrick discs and thus feels rather redundant.
• Wendy Carlos, Composer: Wendy (was Walter) Carlos is the composer most famous for the electronic textures and classical re-imaginings of A Clockwork Orange, but she also worked on The Shining. This is a short interview with here where she discusses the film and her relationship with Kubrick in general.
• Trailer.

The Conclusion:
The Shining is rightfully considered one of the scariest films ever made. Kubrick and Nicholson crafted a modern horror classic that also manages to be devilishly funny. While the sound on this HD DVD isn't the greatest, the picture is great and we get all the extras from the new DVD. Pretty much anything Kubrick released is worth owning, making this one an easy purchase. Highly Recommended.

Daniel Hirshleifer is the High Definition Editor for DVD Talk.