The Shining (1980) - Quotes

Taglines: He Came As The Caretaker, But This Hotel Had Its Own Guardians – Who'd Been There A Long Time

Taglines: [''UK Poster''] The tide of terror that swept America is HERE

Taglines: The Horror is driving him crazy!

Taglines: Stanley Kubrick's epic nightmare of horror

Taglines: A Masterpiece of Modern Horror

Taglines: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...

Taglines: Some places are like people: some shine and some don't

Jack: [breaking through the bedroom door with an axe] Wendy, I'm home! Come out. Come out, wherever you are!

Wendy: [struggling in the bathroom window] Danny, I can't get out. Run. Run and hide. Run! Quick!

Jack: [[w:The Three Little Pigs|Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in! Not by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin? Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!; breaks through the bathroom door; [w:The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|Here's Johnny!] ] ]

Grady: Mr. Torrance, I see you can hardly have taken care of the business we discussed.

Jack: No need to rub it in, Mr. Grady. I'll deal with that situation just as soon as I get out of here.

Grady: Will you indeed, Mr. Torrance? I wonder. I have my doubts. I and others have come to believe that your heart is not in this, that you haven't the belly for it.

Jack: Just give me one more chance to prove it, Mr. Grady. That's all I ask.

Grady: Your wife appears to be stronger than we imagined, Mr. Torrance, somewhat more resourceful. She seems to have got the better of you.

Jack: For the moment, Mr. Grady. Only for the moment.

Grady: I fear you will have to deal with this matter in the harshest possible way, Mr. Torrance. I fear that is the only thing to do.

Jack: There's nothing I look forward to with greater pleasure, Mr. Grady.

Grady: You give your word on that, do you, Mr. Torrance?

Jack: I give you my word.

Jack: [angry; softens his voice in an attempt to trick her] Wendy, listen. Let me out of here and I'll forget the whole damn thing! It'll be just like nothing ever happened. Wendy, baby, I think you hurt my head real bad. I'm dizzy, I need a doctor. Honey, don't leave me here.

Wendy: I'm gonna go now.

Jack: Uh... Wendy?

Wendy: I'm gonna try and get Danny down to Sidewinder in the Snow Cat. I'll send back a doctor...

Jack: Wendy?

Wendy: Yes?

Jack: You got a big surprise coming to you. You're not going anywhere! Go check out the Snow Cat and the radio and you'll see what I mean. Go check it out. Go! Go check it out! Go check it out!

Jack: I think we should discuss Danny. I think we should discuss what should be done with him. What should be done with him?

Wendy: [sobbing] I don't know.

Jack: I don't think that's true. I think you have some very definite ideas about what should be done with Danny, and I'd like to know what they are.

Wendy: Well... I think... maybe he should be taken to a doctor!

Jack: You think "maybe he should be taken to a doctor"?

Wendy: Yes!

Jack: When do you think "maybe he should be taken to a doctor"?

Wendy: As soon as possible!

Jack: [mockingly] As soon as possible"?

Wendy: [increasingly scared] Jack! Please!

Jack: You believe his health might be at stake.

Wendy: Yes!

Jack: You are concerned about him.

Wendy: Yes!

Jack: And are you concerned about me?

Wendy: Of course I am!

Jack: Of course you are! Ever thought about my responsibilities?!

Wendy: Oh, Jack, what are you talking about?

Jack: Have you ever had a single moment's thought about my responsibilities?! Have you ever thought for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers?! Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to look after the Overlook Hotel until May the 1st?! Does it matter to you at all that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility? Do you have the slightest idea what a moral and ethical principle is?! Do you?! Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?! Has it ever occurred to you?! Has it?!

Wendy: [swinging a bat] Stay away from me!

Jack: Why?

Wendy: I just want to go back to my room!

Jack: Why?

Wendy: Well, I'm very confused! I just... need a chance to think things over!

Jack: You've had your whole fucking life to think things over! What good's a few minutes more gonna do you now?!

Wendy: Stay away from me! Please! Don't hurt me!

Jack: I'm not gonna hurt you.

Wendy: Stay away from me!

Jack: Wendy...

Wendy: Stay away!

Jack: [chuckles] Darling, light of my life, I'm not gonna hurt you. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in! I'm going to bash em right the fuck in!

Grady: Your son has a very great talent. I don't think you are aware how great it is, but he is attempting to use that very talent against your will.

Jack: Well, he is a very willful boy!

Grady: Indeed he is, Mr. Torrance. A very willful boy. A rather naughty boy, if I may be so bold, sir.

Jack: It's his mother. She uh, interferes.

Grady: Perhaps they need a good talking to, if you don't mind my saying so. Perhaps a bit more. My girls, sir, they didn't care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of matches and tried to burn it down, but I corrected them, sir. And when my wife tried to prevent me from doing my duty, I corrected her.

Jack: Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here. I recognize you. I saw your picture in the newspapers. You uh, chopped your wife and daughters up into little bits and then you blew your brains out.

Grady: That's strange, sir. I don't have any recollection of that at all.

Jack: Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here.

Grady: I'm sorry to differ with you, sir, but you are the caretaker. You've always been the caretaker. I should know, sir. I've always been here.

Jack: Hi, Lloyd. Been away. Now, I'm back.

Lloyd: Good evening, Mr. Torrence. It's good to see you.

Jack: It's good to be back, Lloyd.

Lloyd: What'll it be, sir?

Jack: Hair of the dog that bit me.

Lloyd: Bourbon on the rocks.

Jack: That'll do her!

Lloyd: No charge to you, Mr. Torrance.

Jack: No charge?

Lloyd: Your money's no good here. Orders from the house.

Jack: Orders from the house?

Lloyd: Drink up, Mr. Torrance.

Jack: I'm the kind of man who likes to know who's buying their drinks, Lloyd.

Lloyd: It's not a matter that concerns you, Mr. Torrance. At least not at this point.

Jack: [pause, then smiles] Anything you say Lloyd! Anything you say.

Wendy: Did you find anything?

Jack: No, nothing at all. I didn't see one goddamn thing.

Wendy: You went into the room Danny said, to 237?

Jack: Yes I did.

Wendy: And you didn't see anything at all?

Jack: Absolutely nothing. How is he?

Wendy: He's still asleep.

Jack: Good. I'm sure he'll be himself again in the morning.

Wendy: Well, are you sure it was the right room? I mean, maybe Danny made a mistake.

Jack: He must have gone in that room. The door was open, the lights were on.

Wendy: Oh, I just don't understand it. What about those bruises on his neck? Somebody did that to him.

Jack: I think he did it to himself.

Wendy: No, that's not possible.

Jack: Wendy, once you rule out his version of what happened, there is no other explanation, is there? It wouldn't be much different from the episode that he had before we came up here, would it?

Wendy: Whatever the explanation is, I think we have to get Danny out of here.

Jack: Get him out of here?

Wendy: Yes.

Jack: You mean just leave the hotel?

Wendy: Yes.

Jack: [lividly] It is so fucking typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something, when I'm really into my work! I could really write my own ticket if I went back to Boulder now, couldn't I? Shoveling out driveways? Work in a carwash? Any of that appeal to you?

Wendy: Jack, please.

Jack: Wendy, I have let you fuck up my life so far, but I am not gonna let you fuck this up!

Wendy: Jack, there's someone else in the hotel with us! There's a crazy woman in one of the rooms! She tried to strangle Danny!

Jack: Are you out of your fucking mind?

Wendy: No, it's the truth! I swear it! Danny told me! He went up into one of the bedrooms, the door was open, and he saw this crazy woman in the bathtub! She tried to strangle him!

Jack: [pause] Which room was it?

Jack: [laughs] Hi, Lloyd. A little slow tonight, isn't it?

Lloyd: Yes it is, Mr. Torrance. What'll it be?

Jack: I'm awfully glad you asked me that, Lloyd. Because I just happen to have two twenties and two tens right here in my wallet. I was afraid they were gonna be there until next April. So here's what: you slip me a bottle of bourbon, a little glass and some ice. You can do that, can't you, Lloyd? You're not too busy, are you?

Lloyd: No, sir. I'm not busy at all.

Jack: [checks wallet] Good man! You set em up and I'll knock em back, Lloyd. One by one. White man's burden, Lloyd, my man! White man's burden. Say, Lloyd, it seems I'm temporarily light! How's my credit in this joint, anyway?

Lloyd: Your credit's fine, Mr. Torrance.

Jack: That's swell. I like you, Lloyd. I always liked you. You were always the best of em. Best god-damn bartender from Timbuktu to Portland, Maine. Or Portland, Oregon, for that matter.

Lloyd: Thank you for saying so.

Jack: Here's to five miserable months on the wagon, and all the irreparable harm that it's caused me.

Lloyd: How are things going, Mr. Torrance?

Jack: Things could be better, Lloyd. Things could be a whole lot better.

Lloyd: I hope it's nothing serious.

Jack: No. Nothing serious. Just a little problem with the, uh, old sperm-bank upstairs. Nothing I can't handle though, Lloyd. Thanks.

Lloyd: Women. Can't live with em, can't live without em.

Jack: Words of wisdom, Lloyd! Words of wisdom. I never laid a hand on him, goddamn it. I didn't. I wouldn't touch one hair on his goddamn little head. I love the little son of a bitch! I'd do anything for him, any fucking thing for him. But that bitch! As long as I live, she'll never let me forget what happened. I did hurt him once, okay? It was an accident - completely unintentional, could have happened to anybody. And it was three goddamn years ago! The little fucker had thrown all my papers all over the floor, and all I tried to do was pull him up...! A momentary loss of muscular coordination, all right? A few extra foot-pounds of energy per second, per second.

Jack: It was the most terrible nightmare I ever had! It's the most horrible dream I ever had!

Wendy: It's okay, it's over now.

Jack: I dreamed that I—that I killed you and Danny. But I didn't just kill you. I cut you up into little pieces. Oh my God! I must be losing my mind.

Wendy: Everything's gonna be all right.

Danny: Do you like this hotel?

Jack: Yes I do. I love it. Don't you?

Danny: I guess so.

Jack: Good. I want you to like it here. I wish we could stay here for ever, and ever... and ever.

Danny: Dad?

Jack: What?

Danny: You wouldn't ever hurt Mommy and me, would you?

Jack: What do you mean? Did your mother ever say that to you, that I would hurt you?

Danny: No, Dad.

Jack: Are you sure?

Danny: Yes, Dad.

Jack: I love you, Danny. I love you more than anything else in the whole world, and I'd never do anything to hurt you, ever. You know that, don't you?

Danny: Yes, Dad.

Jack: Good.

Wendy: Get a lot written today?

Jack: Yes.

Wendy: Hey! Weather forecast said it's gonna snow tonight!

Jack: What do you want me to do about it?

Wendy: Aw, come on, hon. Don't be so grouchy.

Jack: I'm not being grouchy. I just want to finish my work.

Wendy: Okay, I understand. I'll come back later on with a couple of sandwiches for ya, and maybe you'll let me read something then.

Jack: Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me, and it will then take me time to get back to where I was! Understand?

Wendy: Yeah.

Jack: All right. We're gonna make a new rule. When I'm in here and you hear me typing, or whether you don't hear me typing, or whatever the fuck you hear me doing in here, when I'm in here, that means that I am working, and that means don't come in! Now, do you think you can handle that?

Wendy: Yeah.

Jack: Fine. Why don't you start right now and get the fuck outta here?

Wendy: Okay.

Wendy: It's really pretty outside. How about taking me for a walk after you've finished your breakfast?

Jack: Oh, I suppose I ought to try to do some writing first.

Wendy: Any ideas yet?

Jack: Lots of ideas. No good ones.

Wendy: Well, something'll come. It's just a matter of settling back into the habit of writing every day.

Jack: Yeah, that's all it is.

Wendy: It's really nice up here, isn't it?

Jack: I love it, I really do. I've never been this happy or comfortable anywhere.

Wendy: Yeah, it's amazing how fast you get used to such a big place. I tell you, when we first came up here, I thought it was kind of scary.

Jack: I fell in love with it right away. When I came up here for my interview, it was as though I'd been here before. I mean, we all have moments of déjà vu, but this was ridiculous. It was almost as though I knew what was going to be around every corner.

Danny: Mr. Hallorann, are you scared of this place?

Hallorann: No. I ain't scared of nothing here. It's just that, you know, some places are like people. Some shine and some don't. I guess you could say the Overlook Hotel here has something almost like shining.

Danny: Is there something bad here?

Hallorann: Well, you know, Doc, when something happens, it can leave a trace of itself behind, say like if someone burns toast. Well, maybe things that happen leave other kinds of traces behind. Not things that anyone else can notice, but things that people who shine can see, just like they can see things that haven't happened yet. Well, sometimes they can see things that happened a long time ago. I think a lot of things happened right here in this hotel over the years, and not all of em was good.

Danny: What about Room 237?

Hallorann: Room 237?

Danny: You're scared of Room 237, ain't ya?

Hallorann: No I ain't.

Danny: Mr. Hallorann, what is in Room 237?

Hallorann: Nothing. There ain't nothing in Room 237, but you haven't got no business going in there anyway, so stay out! You understand? Stay out!

Ullman: I don't suppose they told you anything in Denver about the tragedy we had up here during the winter of 1970?

Jack: I don't believe they did.

Ullman: Well, my predecessor in this job hired a man named Charles Grady as the winter caretaker. And he came up here with his wife and two little girls — I think they were about eight and ten — and he had a good employment record, good references, and from what I've been told he seemed like a completely normal individual. But at some point during the winter, he must have suffered some kind of complete mental breakdown. He ran amok and he killed his family with an axe. Stacked them neatly in one of the rooms in the West Wing, and then he put both barrels of a shotgun in his mouth. Police thought it was what the old-timers used to call cabin fever; a kind of claustrophobic reaction that can occur when people are shut in together over long periods of time.

Jack: Well, that is quite a story.

Ullman: [chuckling] Yeah, yeah it is. Oh, it's still hard for me to believe it actually happened here, but it did. So I think you can appreciate why I wanted to tell you about it.

Jack: I certainly can, and I also understand why your people in Denver left it for you to tell me.

Ullman: Well obviously some people can be put off by staying alone in a place where something like that actually happened.

Jack: Well you can rest assured, Mr. Ullman, that's not going to happen with me. And as far as my wife is concerned, I'm sure she'll be absolutely fascinated when l tell her. She's a confirmed ghost story and horror film addict.

Ullman: When the place was built in 1907, there was very little interest in winter sports. And this site was chosen for its seclusion and scenic beauty.

Jack: [laughs] Well, it's certainly got plenty of that.

Ullman: The winters can be fantastically cruel. And the basic idea is to cope with the very costly damage and depreciation which can occur. And this consists mainly of running the boiler, heating different parts of the hotel on a daily, rotating basis, repair damage as it occurs, and doing repairs so that the elements can't get a foothold.

Jack: Well, that sounds fine to me.

Ullman: Physically, it's not a very demanding job. The only thing that can get a bit trying up here during the winter is the tremendous sense of isolation.

Jack: Well, that just happens to be exactly what I'm looking for. I'm outlining a new writing project and, uh, five months of peace is just what I need.

Ullman: That's very good, Jack. Because for some people, solitude and isolation can, in itself, become a problem.

Jack: Not for me.

Ullman: How about your wife and son? How do you think they'll take to it?

Jack: They'll love it.

Danny: Do you really want to go and live in that hotel for the winter?

Wendy: Sure I do. It'll be lots of fun.

Danny: Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, there's hardly anybody to play with around here.

Wendy: Yeah, I know. It always takes a little time to make new friends.

Danny: Yeah, I guess so.

Wendy: What about Tony? He's looking forward to the hotel, I bet.

Danny: [as Tony] No I ain't, Mrs. Torrance.

Wendy: Now, come on, Tony, don't be silly.

Danny: [as Tony] I don't want to go there, Mrs. Torrance.

Wendy: Well, how come you don't want to go?

Danny: [as Tony] I just don't.

Wendy: Well, let's just wait and see. We're all going to have a real good time.

Grady Twins: [3 shots of their bloody corpses] Hello, Danny. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Danny. Forever... ...and ever...and ever.

Injured Guest: Great party, isn't it?

Danny Torrance: [as Tony] Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance...Danny can't wake up, Mrs. Torrance...Danny's gone away, Mrs. Torrance.

Danny Torrance: [as Tony] Tony, I'm scared. Remember what Mr. Hallorann said. It's just like pictures in a book. It isn't real.

Wendy Torrance: [to Jack; about Danny's bruised neck; Jack shakes his head] You did this to him, didn't you? You son of a bitch! You did this to him! Didn't you?! How could you?! How could you?!

Wendy Torrance: [nervous laugh] It was just one of those things, you know. Purely an accident. My husband had, uh, been drinking, and he came home about three hours late. So he wasn't exactly in the greatest mood that night. And, well, Danny had scattered some of his school papers all over the room, and my husband grabbed his arm and pulled him away from them. It's...it's just the sort of thing you do a hundred times with a child, you know, in the park or in the streets. But on this particular occasion, my husband just used too much strength, and he injured Danny's arm. Anyway, something good did come out of it all, because he said "Wendy, I'm never gonna touch another drop. And if I do, you can leave me." And he didn't, and he hasn't had any alcohol in, uh, five months.

Jack Torrance: God, I'd give anything for a drink. I'd give my goddamned soul for just a glass of beer.