It's hard to believe that THE SHINING had its network television premiere thirty years ago tonight on ABC-TV. 

THE SHINING, broadcasted on May 6, 1983

In that pre-home video era, if we didn't have access to cable television, most of us were only able to see horror films on local or network television channels, and those films were often watered down with heavy cuts both for gore and for time (many plot points simply disappeared in favor of commercials). 

There has been a lot of speculation in the years since THE SHINING was released as to what it is really all about.  ROOM 237 is the name of the in-depth documentary by Rodney Ascher.  In the film, five narrators give their points-of-view on Stanley Kubrick's initially disappointing yet subsequently revered 1980 film version of Stephen King's novel of the same name, and what it means to them. 

ROOM 237

As a die-hard fan of this film for the past thirty years, I must say that even though I have seen it easily more than fifty times I never noticed the props, visual references or subtexts that these five narrators diligently point out, nor was I even aware of the obvious continuity errors, such as the carpet that changes direction in the hallway or the chair against the wall disappearing during Jack Torrance's (Jack Nicholson) emotional outburst after his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) interrupts his writing.  An argument can be made that ROOM 237 isn't so much about THE SHINING's supposed hidden meanings than it is an explanation of five different people's of the film.  Among the subtexts: the strange layout of the Overlook Hotel; the significance of the number 42; the architectural impossibility of the window in Mr. Ullman's office; the silly sexual reference in Mr. Ullman's first handshake with Jack; the Minotaur motif; the references to the killing of Native Americans and even the Holocaust. 

ROOM 237

The director makes the choice of not showing the faces of the narrators, and this technique works to the film's advantage since so much of it is about pointing out what the narrators see.  Cross-cutting between the narrators and the points they want to make would have either reduced the film's running time or would have left most of the best points out altogether.  I can only hope that the forthcoming DVD will offer up some nice extras in the way of deleted scenes. 

Interestingly, ROOM 237 uses the framing device of Lamberto Bava's DEMONS (1985) and DEMONS 2: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES (1986) (both of which are due out on Blu-ray from Synapse Films in the coming months) as footage of an audience viewing THE SHINING in a theater and on television, respectively, to make certain points.  Ideally, THE SHINING should be viewed in a movie theater, although realistically that is unfortunately not an option for most of us.  The home video revolution saved many a film from inevitable obscurity and this is where the majority of us Shining enthusiasts had the opportunity to see it and thrill to it to our heart's content. 

For screening information, take a look at the film's official website.  If the film is not playing near you, you can also see it On-Demand for roughly $7.00. 

The Monroeville Mall blanketed in snow, January 1978

Dawn went into production in October 1977 at the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania and lasted roughly six months.  Mr. Frumkes was given access to the mall set over a weekend in January of 1978 to follow Mr. Romero and the cast and crew around.  Most documentaries that appear on DVD and Blu-ray nowadays are nothing more than self-promotion pieces. THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD, on the other hand, actually takes you behind the scenes of the film and enlightens the viewer on the creative process, specifically the teamwork and the collaborative nature of the people working on the film.  Mr. Frumkes talks to Tom Savini, Michael Gornick, John Amplas, Richard Rubenstein, the cast of DAWN, and of course director Romero.  The documentary gives us a great look into his creative methods of filmmaking.  As shooting progressed, Dawn took on a comic bookish feel and there is an obvious lightening up of mood. Whereas Mr. Romero had a crew of about eight people on MARTIN (1977), Dawn has a cast and crew in the hundreds. The most fascinating part of the documentary, for myself anyway, is where Mr. Romero describes the rhythms created by editing and spatial design. Prior to his foray into feature filmmaking, Mr. Romero honed his editing skills by making many 30-second commercials.

Roy Frunkes

After a discussion about the distribution of the film and leaving it unrated with a running time of just over two hours, the documentary switches gears to the 1989 summer filming of TWO EVIL EYES (1991). Mr. Romero discusses how he wants a family atmosphere on the set without any of the political Hollywood nonsense.  There is also a follow-up segment on LAND OF THE DEAD (2005) which focuses on Mr. Romero's daughter, Tina Romero, who discusses how she got involved in filmmaking.  Be warned: there is a trailer for a hard-core sex parody of NIGHT, and I'll let your imagination guess what the title of this film is!  While this trailer does not contain any overt sex, there is much nudity.

There is also footage of the Chiller Theater convention in 2005 which features a reunion of the cast of DAY OF THE DEAD, discussions with Greg Nicotero, Bill Lustig, and some of the cast and crew of DAWN. The final segments, all of which are shot on standard definition video, ends with Mr. Frumkes heading to the Toronto set of DIARY OF THE DEAD in the fall of 2006.  While these last few segments are nowhere near as incisive as the footage shot for Dawn, they still are relevant, fun to watch and make THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD a worthy addition to the libraries of Romero fans.

The documentary is available in two versions: as a single, stand-alone standard definition DVD with a newly-recorded commentary provided by Mr. Frunkes running 102 minutes that covers DAWN up to DIARY, and as a limited edition DVD/Blu-ray combo set that includes a standard definition DVD with the aforementioned extras, plus a Blu-ray of Mr. Frumkes's original, 1978 documentary DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD, which runs 66 minutes and was scanned in high definition from the 16mm master.  If you have a Blu-ray player, it is worth spending the extra cash to get the limited edition, which also contains a fold-out poster of Wes Benscoter's beautiful new cover art for the DVD and Blu-ray.  Have a look at this artist's website.  His work is excellent. 

Click here to order the DVD from Amazon.com.

Click here to order the limited edition DVD/Blu-ray combo direct from Synapse Films.

When I saw my very first Dario Argento film in the summer of 1985, I knew that he was a director to be reckoned with. The cinematic style of CREEPERS, the significantly edited  American version of the much longer international cut of PHENOMENA, made me eager to seek out his previous work up to that point. I simply had to see his other movies. I also had a very strong desire to read about him and his films, although I was hard-pressed to find anything in writing as there was a dearth of material available to me. With the exception of several back issues of Fangoria magazine, I could find literally nothing on the Italian maestro.  At that time, the Internet was not available to the public, so there was no such thing as typing his name into a search engine to locate articles or criticism on his work. I would have given anything for a hardcover copy of Alan Jones's DARIO ARGENTO: THE MAN, THE MYTHS AND THE MOVIES in my hand.  Nearly three decades after I stumbled out of the multiplex filled with excitement after having seen CREEPERS, unfairly labeled by critics and even die-hard fans as one of his worst films, Mr. Jones's book, published near the end of last year, is quite simply the definitive book on Mr. Argento, and a true valentine to his favorite film director. 

PROFONDO ARGENTO, published in 2004

For those of you who purchased PROFONDO ARGENTO in 2004, this is essentially the same book, however it has been updated to include Mr. Argento's work since then.  The original manuscript has been left completely intact along with all of the beautiful photographs that illustrate the now 400-page second edition. 

While other brilliant works have been written about Dario Argento by writers as diverse as Maitland McDonagh, Chris Gallant and James Gracey, Mr. Jones goes the extra step of including lots of in-depth interviews with not only Mr. Argento himself, but those closest to him who worked with him over the past 40 years.  Mr. Jones is not just an interviewer. He has visited the set of just about every project that Mr. Argento has worked on since OPERA was filmed in the early summer of 1987. 

Mr. Argento began his career in the industry as a film critic for a local Italian newspaper in the 1960's.  It helped enormously that his father Salvatore was already in the film business and he managed to get his son a contract to make his very first film, the highly cinematic THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE.  It's amazing to me that this is the very first film that Mr. Argento has directed. Most people make short films or mess around with their closest friends and a camera prior to making even a short film.  BIRD solidified the director's signature style which is evident from the very first frame. Architecture and off-kilter camera moves are just some of his trademarks that would find their way into his successive films.

If you are a fan of Mr. Argento's films, you owe it to yourself to have this new edition in your collection. 

Click here to order the hardcover book from Amazon.com.