"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2010)

Under the influence of a desolate hotel where murders had occurred, a caretaker (Jack Nicholson) goes berserk and threatens his family. Unlike most films by director Stanley Kubrick, which saw a slow graduated release building on word-of-mouth reputation, The Shining was released in a manner more like a mass-market film.
The film is a genuinely scary ghost story that polarises opinions: devotees find it the greatest horror film ever, while naysayers deride its over-the-top histrionics. Admittedly, it gets the heart pounding, and there's a truly disturbing edge to Nicholson's performance, but between the highlights, there's not enough to maintain one's enthusiasm.