The first thing I noticed is that the film print used on this videotape is a little on the bluish side. I remember the original film print that was used on the 1981-85 VHS copies (as well as the one used on cable TV) was a bit dark, and a little on the grainy side; it looks like that here, only with the bluish tinge to everything.
The other thing that is a bit distracting here is that the movie is just a little sped up. I don't know if that's from faulty mastering onto VHS, or if it was done on purpose, perhaps to shorten the running time just that little bit more, but it is definitely noticeable.
THE INTERVIEW
Jack walks in, gets directions to Mr. Ullman's office, walks on over there, and meets the hotel's manager. And even gets a cup of coffee! Nothing different here.
Cut to an apartment building somewhere in Boulder, where we see Wendy and Danny at the table, around lunchtime, Wendy reading while Danny watches a Coyote & Road-Runner cartoon. It's Stop!, Look! and Hasten! (1954), just in case you were ever wondering. Anytime I would see a cartoon by those guys, I would always make a mental note of the title, just in case I recognized it by the background music in it, and I eventually did, many years later.
(skip to the 4:27 mark, and you'll be watching what Danny is seeing!)
Wendy and Danny have a short conversation about the potential possibility of spending the whole winter at that hotel Jack has gone to, and Wendy asks Danny of his invisible friend Tony's opinion of the excursion:
"I don't wanna go there, Missus Torrance!"
--"Well, how come you don't want to go there?"
"I just don't!!!"
And with that, we cut back abruptly to Ullman's office, mid-interview. We don't see Bill Watson come in for an introduction to Jack, he's just...there. The scene starts just as Ullman asks Jack, "Did they give you any idea in Denver about what the job entails?".
We don't get any info on what Jack does for a living (or did in his recent past), or why the hotel closes down for the winter. We don 't get the notion that the hotel is about 25 miles from the nearest town (presumably Sidewinder), although we did get something of an idea from Jack's lengthy drive to get there in the opening. But, at least, the rest of the scene is left intact, so we get to hear about one Charles Grady, a onetime caretaker, and the fate of his family some ten years back.
The next scene back at the apartment in Boulder is still the same, ending with Danny looking into the mirror, talking with Tony about Jack landing the job, prying him about why he doesn't want to go to the hotel...and then Tony shows him why. I always thought it was interesting how the number "4" is in Danny's head right then and there, but we don't see 2 and 2 being put together until much later.
The mysterious elevator doors open, unleashing an ocean of blood into a waiting-area corridor, splashing up the walls, knocking furniture and tables around, until it runs straight at us, splashing up the screen, so dark that it makes the screen go black...
...and that's where the first ten minutes end. Right on the nose!
No comments:
Post a Comment