Week of Review - The Shining

And so we come to the end of another Week of Review, though admittedly a much shorter one.  American Horror Story: Hotel will be premiering later this tonight so for the final film in my hotel horror marathon I’ve chosen the most blatantly obvious example there is: The Shining.  The Shining is considered by many to be the greatest horror film ever made and its depth, complexity, and importance continues to echo down the long halls of cinema to this very day.  The film has been analyzed and deconstructed nearly to death with whole documentaries created about its possible meanings such as the death of the American family, the shameful treatment of Native Americans, and even claims that it was Stanley Kubrick’s confession to faking the Moon Landing. 

With a film this well known, this talked about, this discussed and considered by academia, nerdom, and the mass populous alike I normally wouldn’t talk about but I wanted to cover a certain subject that always tends to linger around the film; its connection to the book of the same name.  If you’ve never read it The Shining the book is actually an incredibly different animal to the film and a decidedly less interesting or terrifying horror story, and I’m going to talk about how and why.

Week of Review - Psycho II

Welcome back to Week of Review where we’re building up to tomorrow’s premiere of American Horror Story: Hotel.  When discussing the incredibly limited niche of hotel horror there are basically two elephants you all but have to address.  The most obvious we’ll be getting to tomorrow but today we’re taking a look at the other reigning kind of the genre Psycho.  Given Psycho’s incredible popularity now it’s easy to forget just what a massively important film it was and how much it changed the horror landscape forever.  Despite being a flawed film in a lot of key aspects there’s no doubt it’s Alfred Hitchcock’s most influential and enduring classic and is the movie a lot of folks point to as the first quasi-Slasher flick.  The film was based off of a book of the same name by Robert Block, which drew heavy inspiration from the crimes of Ed Gein, the same disturbed criminal whose actions would later inspire The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Given that impressive pedigree it really shouldn’t be so surprising the film got a sequel.

Week of Review - Motel Hell

Welcome back to Week of Review, where I dedicate 5 to 8 days to reviewing material that’s adjacent to something topical and relevant.  This week I’m looking at 5 hotel horror flicks all leading up to American Horror Story’s 5^th season: Hotel.  Yesterday I looked at the underappreciated Stephen King adaptation 1408, this week I look at the bizarre alleged horror-comedy and staple of late night horror showings and B-movie marathons everywhere Motel Hell. 

Week of Review - 1408

Welcome back to week of review, in which I dedicate 5-8 days to reviewing a collection of films and TV shows relating to a topical subject of my choosing.  5 days from now we’ll see the return of American Horror Story, the hit anthology horror show from FX.  American Horror Story and I have a…complicated relationship to say the least but I at least acknowledge the incredible influence the show has had.  As we speak the amount of anthologies currently in development is pretty staggering and our new found love of anthologies is no doubt partly responsible for the upcoming Goosebumps film.  So given that I’ve decided to produce a Week of Review dedicated to this season of American Horror Story’s theme: Hotels.  I don’t really know why the creators of American Horror Story felt “Hotel” was the perfect confluence of horror trends and American identity to devote an entire season to but thankfully we don't have to understand it, just embrace it.  So to kick things off I’m looking at one of the best and most underrated Stephen King adaptations of all time 1408.