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Psycho vs. The Shining


John

Psycho (1960) vs. The Shining (1980)  

28 members have voted

  1. 1. Which film do you prefer?

    • Psycho (directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
    • The Shining (directed by Stanley Kubrick)
  2. 2. Which score do you prefer?

    • Psycho (composed by Bernard Herrmann)
    • The Shining (composed by Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind, others)


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Which classic horror film and score do you prefer; Hitchcock/Herrmann’s Psycho or Kubrick/Carlos’ The Shining?

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1 minute ago, dougie said:

Hitch is more entertaining than The Kube.

 

 A Clockwork Orange is as entertaining as they come. In fact, some see the film's high entertainment value as a misfire since it basically turns sickening violence into popcorn time. 

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There is no comparison. Psycho is a film unparalleled. The Shining isn't even the best King film and certainly a failure as an adaption though that is irrelevant to those who love it's artsy style. 

One film features terrific acting by Perkins the other has the worst overacting by an actor who overacts all the time as well as whatever poor poor shelly duvall did. 

 

And the screeching moment in the score. Iconic.

 

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I'm with Thor and Koray, The Shining on all counts.  I can appreciate the reverence for Hitchcock more than I do for some other oft touted films and directors, but personally only North by Northwest interests me much.

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15 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

One film features terrific acting by Perkins the other has the worst overacting by an actor who overacts all the time as well as whatever poor poor shelly duvall did. 

 

I don’t think it’s fair to compare Perkin and Nicholson’s performances. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum. 

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Don't get me wrong. PSYCHO is a fantastic film and score. But THE SHINING connects on a whole other visceral level (both film and score); one of the more traumatic film experiences from my formative years. The mise-en-scene alone is unbelievable.

 

Interestingly, John Williams didn't care particularly for the PSYCHO score.

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58 minutes ago, John said:

 

I don’t think it’s fair to compare Perkin and Nicholson’s performances. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum. 

John you pitted the films head to head. So pitting the leads is fair game. Here's Johnny has no reference point to a young audience. 

 

I admit I am a The Shining hater but even if I wasn't I am trying to be objective.

 

Its hard to compare any film against Psycho. 

If we're going to go all French terminology referring to mise-en-scene again Psyho wins based on the amazing perspectives Hitch gives us. 

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7 hours ago, Knox Harrington said:

I'm with Thor and Koray, The Shining on all counts.  I can appreciate the reverence for Hitchcock more than I do for some other oft touted films and directors, but personally only North by Northwest interests me much.

I love Hitchcock, but Kubrick takes the cake. Never been big on Psycho though. It’s a fine film but I always preferred Rear Window and Rope. 

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1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

I love Hitchcock, but Kubrick takes the cake. Never been big on Psycho though. It’s a fine film but I always preferred Rear Window and Rope. 

 

Idiot!

 

And something about Crash!

6 hours ago, Richard said:

"Psyho"! :lol:

 

 

 

That's right. The Prince Charles, wasn't it?

 

He sat next to me, had to leave halfway through because Camilla had started to bolt outside!

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11 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

Hitch is more disciplined and rigorous. Kube is more indulgent. 

 

?

 

Few directors are as rigorous as the Kube, formally as well as thematically.

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Psycho is a remarkable score but only a half-remarkable film...a that half has probably mostly to do with the score anyway. Hitch was a great filmmaker but he's easily outclassed by Kubrick in almost every category ever. Compared to him, Al is like Joss Whedon.

 

Karol

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13 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

Interesting! This poll deals with two good horror movies that somehow never frightened or disturbed me. 

 

What horror films, preferrably after 1980s, _have_ done those to you?

 

6 minutes ago, Ghostbusters II said:

Psycho franchise > Kubrick filmography

 

You wouldn't be saying that if Eyes Wide Shut was a franchise! 

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10 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

What horror films, preferrably after 1980s, _have_ done those to you?

 

 

Open Water, The Invitation, Hereditary, The Visit, It Follows, Funny Games, Seven, 28 Days Later, The Others, ... 

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1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

What horror films, preferrably after 1980s, _have_ done those to you?

 

 

Well, there are people who just "grow out" of the horror genre, and barely find a handful of films to be scary.

 

Its a very subjective genre.

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2 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Its a very subjective genre.

 

Every movie is subjective for you can like or dislike a movie for any reason.

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There is a convention in film studies that genres can be arranged by subjectivity, with horror and comedy being on the far end of the scale. 

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I never heard of such a convention. It's probably not applicable to me. People may prefer certain genres over others but every movie is just as subjective as the next one.

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No Chen is right. Horror films and comedies are amongst the hardest to judge.

7 hours ago, crocodile said:

Psycho is a remarkable score but only a half-remarkable film...a that half has probably mostly to do with the score anyway. Hitch was a great filmmaker but he's easily outclassed by Kubrick in almost every category ever. Compared to him, Al is like Joss Whedon.

 

Karol

 

But in the case of Psycho vs The Shining, Hitch outclasses Stanley, in just about every way.

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7 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

Well, there are people who just "grow out" of the horror genre, and barely find a handful of films to be scary.

 

Its a very subjective genre.

 

How do you grow out of being disturbed by something? The best horror films aren't some disposable teenager amusement park ride...maybe I'm just falling into a JWFan Semantic trap, but the hallway in The Shining--just one of many examples of things in the movie that gets under your skin--doesn't need to be "frightening" or "scary" to be disturbing...for myself the most disturbing scene in Psycho is the conversation between Bates and Marion in the bird room, and I can't imagine anyone in the world calling that scene "scary".

8 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Open Water, The Invitation, Hereditary, The Visit, It Follows, Funny Games, Seven, 28 Days Later, The Others, ... 

 

Out of that list I've only seen It Follows, but it's one of my favorite films. Have you ever watched Jacob's Ladder? It might not be considered "horror", per se, but damn.

 

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

No Chen is right. Horror films and comedies are amongst the hardest to judge.

 

 

 

The easiest, you mean.

 

9 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Out of that list I've only seen It Follows, but it's one of my favorite films.

 

It certainly presents one of the best ideas and yet it's amazingly simple.

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10 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Have you ever watched Jacob's Ladder?

 

I think so, a very long time ago on VHS, but I don't quite recall it. Something with war trauma? 

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5 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

I think so, a very long time ago on VHS, but I don't quite recall it. Something with war trauma? 

 

In a manner of speaking. If you ever get the inkling to revisit it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! @Richard, I agree with you, but I would say it's hundreds of times more unsettling and haunting than a lot of straight-blood horror films. 

 

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I enjoy Psycho as a film but it’s not really scary or disturbing. 

 

The Shining as a film, and I don’t care how it strayed from the book, is a very well done adaptation. Kubrick’s style works well for the material. And as a young kid / teenager, it’s one of the few films to actual “scare” me. It captures the remoteness and evil within the hotel perfectly. Nicholson and Duvall are both perfect for their roles.

 

 

The music is a somewhat different story.  Herrmann’s score is superb and needs no defending.

 

However Wendy Carlos did a solid job and the use of Penderecki is good but Kubrick’s lack of trust in his composer is an issue that bothers me.

 

I have both Wendy Carlos Rediscovering Lost Scores cds and some of her original compositions for The Shining are chilling but I prefer Herrmann’s score.

 

 

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Herrmann's score has academic interest to me, being the original landmark that it is, but it's not something I find enjoyable the way I do Carlos' music (and the classical stuff) for THE SHINING.

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