The Shining (1980) Movie Review

Considered by some as the greatest horror film ever made and certainly one of the first films mentioned in the conversation. Features a handful of really memorable scenes that have become a part of our culture, like the creepy twins and the breaking through the door with an ax and that means something.

The Shining (1980) IMDB

The Shining (1980) movie poster

One of the best horror movies of all time is also one of the best movies of all time. It features the 3 headed monster of Stanley Kubrick as the director of a Stephen King best selling book with Jack Nicholson as the lead character….yes please ! A writer takes a job as a caretaker of a secluded hotel (the Overlook Hotel) that is closed for the Winter with his wife and young son joining him. Oh, did I mention the hotel is also haunted ? Not a little haunted, a lot haunted. As the writer’s mental state deteriorates, his wife and son try to leave the hotel but he won’t let them. Can they escape a secluded hotel in the middle of winter ? I would try using the hedge maze outside….just a thought.

Jack looking at model of the maze - The Shining

If you want to explore the symbolism in the film check out the documentary film Room 237. It will have you questioning the choices made in the film and just what they might represent. Also, it gives you a reason to watch the movie again !

Fun Facts About The Shining

  • The Overlook Hotel was inspired by the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon. Kubrick filmed the exterior shots of the hotel at the Timberline Lodge, but the interior shots were filmed in a studio in England.

  • Jack Nicholson's famous "Here's Johnny!" line was not in the original script. Nicholson improvised the line on the spot, and Kubrick loved it so much that he decided to keep it in the film.

  • The film's score, composed by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, is also considered to be one of the greatest film scores of all time.

  • The movie opened on the same weekend as The Empire Strikes Back !

  • The film was considered a poor adaption of the book and was hated by Stephen King.

This is easily a 9.5/10. If I see this on tv, I watch it.

Check out the movie trailer:

Prisoners (2013) Movie Review

Prisoners (2013) IMDB

Prisoners movie poster

Prisoners is about a man (Hugh Jackman) who tries to hunt down his 6 year old daughter and her friend who have been abducted after Thanksgiving dinner. He does this after the police arrest a suspect but release him for lack of evidence. As he gets closer to the suspected abductor he finds a man obsessed with making mazes (I do not support this premise as someone who has a website committed to making mazes). Can he find the children in time to keep them safe ? He takes matters into his own hands to find the children but will he take things too far ?A really tense thriller I highly recommend. Great intensity with a wonderful script and cinematography. It is dark and there are twists and turns.

The film is full of stars beyond Hugh Jackman, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, and Paul Dano also part of the cast. The director, Denis Villeneuve is so talented that I need to keep updating his list of great films on this blog post (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Incendies, Sicario, Dune Parts 1 & 2) and this might be his best film !

I give it a 9.5/10.

Check out the trailer:

I found 3 more movie posters for this film, each which features mazes prominently and since this is a website dedicated to mazes I had to show them ! Which do you prefer ? Did any make my list of The 10 best maze movie posters ?

Prisoners movie poster - maze background
Prisoners movie poster - maze background with writing
Prisoners horizontal movie poster

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Movie Review

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) IMDB

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) movie poster

Winner of 3 Oscars, including Best cinematography and over 100 movie awards. Let’s just get this out of the way. I give it a 9.5/10. This is an excellent movie that is beautiful to watch, with an interesting fantasy world created by director Guillermo del Toro.

The story is takes us to the year 1944 in Spain (Yes, it is in Spanish) where a young girl, named Ofelia, escapes a world at war by escaping into a fantasy world at the center of a secret underground labyrinth. The girl meets a faun (totally normal) who takes her to the center of the labyrinth. She learns she can become an immortal princess in this fantasy world but must prove herself first by completing 3 tasks.

This is a dark fantasy fairy tale. The story complicates with Ofelia trying to navigate her 3 tasks while learning many valuable lessons along the way. Chances are you have already seen this movie and did not need this review. If you somehow missed it, this film is a must watch.

Check out this trailer:

Inception (2010) Movie Review

If you believe in the voting on major movie websites, Inception is the highest rated maze movie of all time. Do I need to write anything after that ? ok…

Inception (2010) IMDB

Inception (2010) movie poster

At the time of this writing this is the highest rated Science-Fiction movie of all-time on IMDB. It won 4 Oscars, and although it didn’t win, it was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It has won 159 awards and was nominated for 220 awards according to its IMDB page. So, does this need a review ? No, it is outstanding.

But what is the movie about and how are mazes involved ? Well, the movie revolves around a group of thieves go into dreams to steal corporate ideas from the minds of people. This time they need to plant an idea in a CEO’s head during a dream (what they call an inception). To do this they will need to circumvent the maze of subconscious dream worlds they’ve created - a dream world within a dream world within a dream world. Sounds like that will be easy to execute. This is a solid script, well acted (packed full of stars Leonardo DiCaprio,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, E. Page and Ken Watanabe), well shot, well paced, has great special effects and multiple outstanding action scenes. One of things that make this movie so loved is the concept and premise. This is not a story concept you have ever heard of before. You will not be guessing what is going to happen next because you have not seen this before.

And the ending !!! Perfect. 9.5/10. Thank you Christopher Nolan.