'The Shining' Plays Out in Real Life Terror For Couple

One couple's terror played out just like a scene from The Shining when a machete-wielding man broke into their home. INSIDE EDITION has their story.

It's one of the scariest scenes in movie history of Jack Nicholson in The Shining terrorizing his wife and son with an axe. 

Now, imagine this happening to you in real life.

Well, it did to a couple in Idaho. A machete-wielding maniac actually smashed through their front door.

James Sven-Gross and girlfriend Kaila Gearhart had just woken up when they heard loud noises coming from the upstairs apartment.

"He had a machete like this one, except his was longer. A very brutal, archaic weapon," said James.

"I could hear banging. I could hear demolishing. I could hear glass breaking. All from upstairs," he recalled.

James hit record on his camera, but he had no idea what he was about to capture. First, the neigbor broke into another apartment. The screams could be heard coming from upstairs.

The next thing they knew, the neighbor kicked through their front door.

"When he came through the door, it looked like a horror movie. It looked like something out of The Shining. He just had that vacant look on his face. It definitely looked like he was out to harm somebody," he explained. 

James was ready.

"I said,'Hey! I've got a gun!' "

James shot and knocked the camera over but it continues recording as James exclaimed, "Oh my God. Oh God. Oh God! Stay down! Stay down! I didn't want to do that."

The maniac actually admits he wanted to kill them.

Neighbor: "You killed me."
James: "You were gonna to kill me."
Neighbor: "You're right, I was."
James: "Then I did the right thing."
Neighbor: "You did."

The neighbor survived. He's Twain Thomas, an Army veteran who reportedly suffers from post traumatic stress. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Now, James and Kaila are left with this terrifying memory of the day their lives turned into The Shining.