The fact that “Shining” fans are regularly supplied with new material does not exactly surprise us at DashFUN. After all, the Stephen King film adaptation by legendary director Stanley Kubrick also leads the official DashFUN ranking of the best horror films of all time. Today, however, it is neither about the thoroughly exciting documentary “Room 237” nor about the outstanding sequel “Doctor Sleeps Awakening” by Mike Flanagan – but about a completely independent film that obviously uses the cult classic. (“Shining” connoisseurs of course immediately recognized the carpet on the cover photo of this article!)
It is all too obvious that “Shining” was the inspiration for “Shelter”. Does the directing duo Christopher Beyrooty and Connor Martin in their feature film debut even start to kindle the kind of horror that gets under your skin like master director Stanley Kubrick once did? This is exactly what you can see for yourself starting this week: “Shelter” is now available completely uncut with a 18-release on DVD and Blu-ray…
» “Shelter” DVD & Blu-ray on Amazon*
… and of course also as video-on-demand on various streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, of course also in full length:
» “Shelter” on Amazon Prime Video*
Shelter tells the story of newly in love lovebirds Jon (Brendan Hines) and Sara (Tatjana Marjanovic) whose honeymoon is unexpectedly cut short when a global pandemic has people on their toes. Out of necessity, the two end up in the notorious Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles – because the lockdown has forced them to interrupt their onward journey.
To top it all off, the two are the only guests there who are only looked after by two housemaids. And the longer the couple is stuck in the hotel, the more the exceptional situation affects their psyche – until Jon and Sara finally realize that the virus rampant in the world out there is the least of their problems. Because they witness strange events that seem to be taking place in the famous emergency shelter. Or are they just imagining it all?
While the alone-in-an-imposing-hotel premise in combination with mysterious incidents is of course directly reminiscent of Stephen King’s “Shining” at first glance, “Shelter” is above all one of many films since the beginning of Corona that the pandemic Use the setting for yourself. After more than two years, this may not be super original, but it is still quite effective, as some reviews emphasize.
Matthew Roe from movie threat emphasizes something like that “Shelter” conveys quite forcefully how the quarantine situation can affect the people affected and promises an “uncomfortable” film that knows how to stand out from the pandemic film mush.
In general, however, the reviews of “Shelter” are rather reservedso that the “Shining” comparison is not needed to guess that the genre-experienced Tatjana Marjanovic (“Great White”, “Purgatory”) and the one from series like “The Tick”, “Suits” and “Locke & Key” well-known Brendan Hines starred horror thriller is at most something for horror omnivores – and of course for everyone who just can’t get enough of pandemics even after Corona….
*The links to the Amazon offer are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will receive a commission.
