It lets someone hold the camera. That is a big deal!

Prior to the Steadicam, holding a camera meant the footage would be shaky. Traditionally you needed a tripod or build an expensive dolly setup on location to keep shots smooth. With a Steadicam you can just hold the camera and run around on foot filming anything you wanted and the shots still looked fluid and smooth as though you had used a dolly track.

The movie "Rocky" is the first film to get the movie industry to notice the Steadicam. All those shots of Rocky jogging around Philly could not have been done on the production's limited budget without the Steadicam.

The Shinning had a big budget, but how could you shoot the little boy riding his Big Wheel around the Hotel without seeing the dolly tracks for the camera? But with a Steadicam, the shot was simple. All they had to do was walk behind the boy holding the camera.

I would like to know where the filmmakers truly got their idea for this movie from. Was it Cannibal Holocaust as I suspect (the old "film crew missing but their film was found" plotline). And what was up with all the shaky hand held camera work.

The model for the interior design of the Overlook is the Ahwahnee Lodge near Yosemite Park.
http://www.webportal.com/ahwahnee/

If you look at the exterior shots that show the Lodge and the mountain behind it you will see that there is no hedge maze - and more importantly there is NO PLACE where the hedge maze could possibly be. The mountain slopes away in every direction. For me that spatial discontinuity adds some atmospheric eeriness to the movie. You wouldn't necessarily be aware of the discontinuity on a first time viewing, but it registers somehow on a subliminal level. All of a sudden, just magically appearing, or like an hallucination, the hedge maze is there. Then it's not there in a snowed-in establishing shot. Then it's there again. There are other discrepancies or discontinuities involving the maze, which may or may not have been intentional. Seen from above (an omiscient pov, or perhaps in Jack's "shining" hallucination) the maze is larger and more symmetrical than it is on the plan of the maze seen in a map outside of it as Wendy and Danny walk into it.

Trivia requests: Evil Dead, Event Horizon, and In the Mouth of Madness!

--TwoDragons

One of the most memorable horror I've seen is the Hannibal series. Until now, seeing Hopkins even in other movies (not necessarily horror ones) still brings me a chill or something.

For my upcoming movie lookout, I'm awaiting House by Ted Dekker. I'm such a huge fan of the great Christian author! House will be in theaters on November 7. Kinda excited about this. If you are into Christian-themed horror film, you might want to check out House' official website at http://housethemovie.net for the list of cities where House will be shown.

Rosemary approaches the baby's crib and takes the baby into her arms and cuddles him, mothering the child. The other guests relax (the original film ends here)

Bradbury's goes on:

She waits for a chance and runs away with the child into the night. The apartment's crowd follow her on the night street. She sees a church with the front door ajar and enters it. She calmly walks down the aisle towards the altar. The persecutors howl ("no! No! come back!") at the door, unable to enter this sacred building.

She approaches the altar, places the child there and prays: "Father, I do accept YOUR child". A blast of light bathes the altar as the child's paternity is reversed. The satanists scream at the door, defeated.

x-x-x-x

Would you be able to track this story?

Of course, in the 60's, without the religious fundamentalists of today, I enjoyed this alternate ending.

Nowadays, I felt like some 'bible belt' fanatic, by just quoting the lines I remembered.

Oh my!

1x vote for "Evil Dead"