Image: YouTube
Who played the movie's 'hero,' Jack Torrance?
Tommy Lee Jones
Craig T. Nelson
Jack Nicholson
Nicholson gave a powerful, if somewhat scenery-chewing, performance as Jack Torrance, who slowly goes mad while snowed in to a hotel as its caretaker. The word "hero" deserves the scare quotes here, as by the end of the film he's chasing his wife with a deadly weapon.
Steve Martin
Who played Wendy, Jack's wife?
Shelley Duvall
The idea that Shelley Duvall is the daughter of Robert Duvall is a persistent misconception. Her father's name was Robert, but she's no relation to the star of "Tender Mercies."
Farrah Fawcett
Lee Remick
Jessica Lange
What kind of car do the Torrances drive to the hotel?
a 1966 Mustang
a Pontiac Catalina
a Chevrolet Suburban
a VW Beetle
The film opens with the family buzzing cheerfully up mountain roads in the little car. This clearly signals that this is a family without a lot of money, but a certain amount of initiative about making a better future.
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What is the name of the hotel at which the Torrance family arrives?
the Brown Palace
the Downtown Standard
the Overlook
The Overlook was based on the real Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. However, exterior shots for the Overlook were shot at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon.
the Versailles
What does Jack intend to do while at the Overlook?
catch up on sleep
learn French cookery
quit drinking
write a novel
Jack was hired on to be the Overlook's caretaker for the winter. While there, he's going to write a novel. Incidentally, he's already given up drinking -- he did so after dislocating Danny's shoulder while drunk.
What was the name of the previous caretaker?
George
Grady
Charles Grady was the former caretaker. Oddly, when Jack later meets a ghost named Grady in the film, he gives his first name as "Delbert." Attempts by fans to resolve this mystery have not provided a clear answer.
Mort
Newt
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What happened to Grady?
he drowned in the indoor pool
he got lost in the hedge maze and froze
he killed himself and his family
The Overlook's manager got "cabin fever" and killed his wife, daughters and himself. The daughters are famous for the disturbing "come play with us" scene.
he retired to Boca Raton
What is the name of Danny's imaginary friend?
Alfie
Harvey
Snowcat
Tony
In the book, it is revealed that Danny's middle name is Anthony. That's one small detail that indicates much of the supernatural activity in "The Shining" is generated by the psyches of the main characters.
What is the "shining"?
telepathic ability
Danny and the cook, DIck Halloran, share this ability. It becomes important later in the movie.
snow blindness
events from the past bleeding through to the present
this is never made clear
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Dick Halloran warns Danny to stay out of room ____.
101
237
Room 237 is not a fun place to be. When Danny goes in there (despite Dick's warning), he is attacked by a mysterious force; Wendy mistakenly thinks that Jack was rough with him.
1408
it was the laundry room
What outdoor feature does the Overlook have?
a hedge maze
Wendy takes Danny through the hedge maze before it gets too cold. In the book, the hedge maze had topiary animals that frightened Danny.
a hot tub
a manmade creek
a mini-golf course
What is wrong with the TV that Danny watches?
it shows scenes from 1921
it has no power cord
The cord isn't hidden behind the back of the set, either. The TV sits in the middle of the room on a rug, on four raised legs, so it's clear that there's no power cord anywhere.
it has no antenna
it is in color before there was color TV
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Were Grady's daughter's twins?
yes
no
They're sometimes mistakenly referred to as "the twins." But despite looking alike and being dressed alike, they were two years apart in age.
What color are the dresses the little girls wear?
blue
Is there anything scarier in a horror movie than a scary little kid? "The Shining" gives us two, the girls in blue dresses with white sashes and black Mary Jane shoes. We're shuddering just thinking about it.
pink
white
yellow
In what state is "The Shining" set?
California
Colorado
Don't be fooled by the "Maine" option. Although much of Stephen King's work is set in Maine, "The Shining" was set in Colorado, where the King family lived for a time.
Maine
New Zealand
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What does Jack find in room 237?
a beautiful woman
When Jack goes into the room to check out Danny's story of being attacked, a beautiful naked woman steps out of the shower. Though the scene's explicit horror comes from the moment when she turns into a rotting female corpse, it's also disturbing how readily the married Jack kisses a strange woman, suggesting underlying marital issues.
the scary girls
Lloyd the bartender
nothing
What is the name of the mysterious bartender?
Alfred
Lloyd
The bartender is presumably a ghost, as no one else remains at the hotel. Somehow, Jack knows his name, suggesting that he's falling under the supernatural influence of the Overlook.
Janus
William
What word does Danny say and write on a mirror?
DULLBOY
OUCH
REDRUM
The "redrum spelled backward is murder!" moment is one thing the film's detractors point to when they argue that this movie is not nearly as sophisticated a film as it's built up to be. It's dangerously close to "My God! Alucard spelled backward is DRACULA!"
GETOUT
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How does Danny contact Dick Halloran?
carrier pigeon
ham radio
a mobile phone
telepathy
Danny uses his "shining" to get in touch with the other telepath he knows. Halloran gets the message and heads for the hotel.
Who wrote the novel by the same name?
Barry Eisenstein
Alfred Bester
Stephen King
King was initially not too pleased with the adaptation of "The Shining." He thought Jack Nicholson was miscast and Shelley Duvall a one-dimensional damsel in distress. His opinion has apparently softened over the years.
Peter Straub
What one sentence is written on every page of Jack's manuscript?
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
Some people call this the movie's most frightening scene: Wendy goes into the room where Jack has been writing to look at his work, and realizes what he's been obsessively doing all day, every day.
"It was a dark and stormy night."
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party."
"Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley."
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What weapon does Wendy first wield against Jack?
a baseball bat
When Wendy goes to the great room where Jack has been writing his book, to talk to him about leaving the Overlook, she takes the baseball bat with her. This is a notable lack of confidence in her husband's reasonableness, but it turns out to be well-founded.
a canister of mace
a Swiss Army knife
an ornamental sword
Into what room does Wendy lock the unconscious Jack?
the Gold Ballroom
the pantry
The significance of Room 217 is that it was the number of the haunted room in King's novel. The movie changed it to 237, a room number the real Stanley Hotel didn't have, so that the hotel wouldn't be overrun with requests for that room. It didn't work, as room 217 is the most commonly requested one, thanks to knowledgeable fans.
room 217
room 237
What weapon does Jack have as he chases Wendy and Danny?
an axe
This is how he chops through the door, leading to the famous image of Nicholson with his face in the gap, looking crazy as only he can.
a knife
a katana
a shotgun
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Why doesn't Wendy follow Danny out the bathroom window?
she is afraid of the drop to the ground
she doesn't want to land on him
she wants to face down Jack
she is too big to fit
When Jack chases them through the hotel, Wendy locks herself and Danny in a bathroom, but cannot get herself out. This is how mother and son get separated.
What famous line did Jack Nicholson deliver through the broken door?
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
"Heeeere's Johnny!"
Millennial viewers of "The Shining" might need this line explained. In 1980, Americans heard it every night on "The Tonight Show," hosted by legendary Johnny Carson.
"Look what your brother did to the door!"
"You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"
Which of these characters does NOT survive the movie?
Danny
Dick
Jack
Wendy
#2 and #3
Wendy and Danny escape the Overlook. It's Jack Torrance and poor Dick Hallorann who don't (shows what being a hero will get you!)
#3 and #4
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How does Dick die?
drowned in blood from the elevator
killed by Jack with an axe
Jack kills DIck in the Overlook's lobby. The "snowcat," by the way, was the snowmobile that Dick rode to the hotel and on which Wendy and Danny escape.
run over by Wendy in the snowcat
killed by Delbert Grady by unknown means
How does Jack die?
falls down an elevator shaft
falls from the roof of the Overlook
freezes to death in the hedge maze
This results in a superbly creepy image of Jack, frozen upright, with his eyes, rolled up toward his forehead. The Internet has had fun with this, creating memes of the photo like: "Jack Torrance: Ice Bucket Challenge Champion."
Wendy shoots him
Who is seen in a photograph from 1921?
Danny Torrance
Stephen King
Jack Torrance
When the movie ends, the camera closes in on a photograph of a party, with Jack smiling in the center. The viewer's first thought (probably) is that Jack has become trapped in the Overlook's past. But other fans theorize that he was at the Overlook in 1921 and reincarnated as his "Jack Torrance" self.
DIck Hallorann
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Who played the cook, Dick Halloran?
Scatman Crothers
Crothers, a musician as well as actor, gave himself the name "Scat Man," later shortened to one word. Scat singing is a type that uses fluid, rapid, but meaningless, syllables, a kind of vocal music without words.
Ted Lange
John Laroquette
Carl Weathers
Who directed "The Shining?"
Howard Hawks
Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick is the mastermind behind classic films like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A Clockwork Orange." He died in 1999.
George Lucas
Kimberly Pierce
For which of these awards was Stanley Kubrick nominated?
a Golden Globe
an Oscar
a Razzie
For "The Shining," Kubrick was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for "Worst Director." Shelley Duvall was also nominated for the "Worst Actress" Razzie. Neither of them, uh, won.
none of these
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Who played Jack Torrance in an ABC miniseries of "The Shining"?
Taye Diggs
Kyle McLachlan
Vincent Ventresca
Steven Weber
Stephen King was said to be more pleased with the ABC treatment of his book. Weber played Torrance as an everyman with a drinking problem, who, in the end, is sane enough to sacrifice himself for his family. His ghost later watches proudly as his son graduates from high school.
Which of these has been advanced as the "real" theme of "The Shining"?
the Holocaust
the genocide of American Indians
Stanley Kubrick allegedly faking the Apollo 11 moon landing
all of these
All of this is unpacked in the documentary, "Room 237." The strangest theory is that Kubrick used "The Shining" to confess to helping fake the moon landing. Among the supposed clues: the fact that there is Tang is the Overlook's pantry, and Tang is what astronauts drink.
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