Question: Does Danny's ability to "shine" have any connection to Jack's insanity and the events that occur in the hotel?
Answer: The movie is really 2 parallel story-lines with history repeating itself. In 1920s Jack visited the same hotel with his wife and son, they got stuck there due to snow storm along with rest of hotel crew (which leaves early in a hurry in 1980s). The director has carefully changed background score on things which were not present in 1920s when Dick is showing the facilities to Danny and his mother (like food cold storage). In the 80's version, Danny, Jack and Dick are the ones who have the power to shine or see scenes from the past in the same place. But as Dick says, its like reading a book and has no physical presence in current world. Whenever Dick is talking to Danny, it happened exactly the same way in 1920s, except replace the secret of shining with the secret of cannibalism around the hotel. Jack's insanity is just a repeat of his past, in the 20's the job of being the butcher (of human flesh) got to his mind and he started behaving weird. In the hotel lobby, replace the sound of heavy typing on the long table with sharp knife falling on human flesh. Red carpet depicts the blood and body parts all around the floor in 20s.
Question: There was a "Friday the 13th" TV series that ran from 1987-1990 and had about 70 episodes; does anybody know where I can see these episodes online?
Chosen answer: No, not all of them. The first three episodes are on Youtube. Direct TV new horror-movie channel - Chiller TV - is airing all the episodes currently, but you have to subscribe to the TV station (check out ChillerTV.com.) They are not officially on DVD, but are also sold on ebay. The series has no affiliation to the Friday The 13th Jason films.
Answer: The entire series is now on DVD. You can most likely find them on Amazon or a video store.
Question: Why in the world is Alex, when unmasked at the end, wearing lipstick? Symbolic or something?
Answer: Alex is not the typical one dimensional slasher serial killer, but rather a complex individual with conflicting motivations. The lipstick is a symbol that he is portraying the hurtful people from his past even as he kills them.
Answer: The film doesn't provide an answer (which I think is a good thing). My interpretation is that Alex has somehow absorbed his sister's spirit, symbolically (not literally), and is avenging her death *as* Robin, in a way. Her name is his last word before he dies. A scene was shot but cut which revealed that Robin and Alex were twins. That scene was added back to the television edit of Prom Night.
Question: Because the camera is hand-held, it's hard to get a clear picture of what is going on from time to time. Can anyone tell me why the filmmakers had to cut the leg off of their guide, as shown in the footage?
Answer: He was bitten on the foot by a poisonous spider that was hiding in his boot. They cut his leg off to stop the poison from spreading.
Question: I was wondering if there was supposed to be any connection between the six original conspirators and the victims one hundred years later? Obviously Father Malone was a direct descendant of one of the conspirators, but what about the other five? I thought maybe it was about roles, like a priest, three fishermen, a weather man and an old lady, maybe? Or was it just any six people who had to die? That doesn't seem to make sense because the zombies were going to kill Stevie and her son and the people at the church. Maybe they would have stopped after six were dead, I don't know. I also doubt that the six who died were all relatives of the six conspirators, what are the odds of the three fishermen all being relatives of the conspirators and being on the same boat? Anybody got any ideas?
Chosen answer: From what I've gathered from listening to the DVD commentary there is no connection between the six that must die and the original conspirators (Father Malone aside). I've always found it quite silly that fog, which is seen roaring down the streets of town, seems hell bent on getting the main charaters and not bothering anybody else in the town.
If one reads the novelization of the film, it's revealed that the six were descendants of the original six conspirators. Although it wouldn't apply to the movie, it's an interesting plot point.
Answer: Effectively, Danny's shining is what brings the hotel to life. Because he has such an incredibly powerful shine about him, all these weird ghost things in the hotel are able to materialize and reveal themselves. These weird ghost things are always present to some degree, and those people with a small degree of shine get glimpses of them - like Dick Hallorann. (It's not quite made clear in the movie, but Dick saw the woman in room 237 in the book). However, Danny's shine is so great that he gives these forces enough life to appear to those without any shine, people like his father and mother. As it's the hotel that's slowly driving Jack crazy, and the hotel gets its power from Danny's shining, then I'd say there's definitely a connection between Jack's insanity and Danny's abilities. In the movie, it's not as clear as it is in the book, but Jack is effectively possessed by the hotel. He's not a flawed drunk with an anger problem who loses his mind because of isolation. He's a flawed drunk with an anger problem who's doing the best he can, until the forces of the hotel get inside his head and make him lose it.
If Danny's shining is what brings the hotel back to life, does this mean that all the previous "Jacks" had a son or daughter with the shining too?