One of the best horror movies ever made with exceptional performance by Jack Nicholson and stunningly directed by Stanley Kubrick

Rating: 8/10 (22 September 2012)

A family formed by a father (Jack Nicholson, Stanley Kubrick considered both Robert De Niro and Robin Williams for the role of Jack Torrance but decided against both of them) , mother (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd , first choice to play was Cary Guffey, because Danny was so young and since it was his first acting job, Kubrick was highly protective of the child, during the shooting of the movie, Lloyd was under the impression that the film he was making was a drama, not a horror movie) heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future. The struggling writer named Jack Torrance accepts a position as the caretaker of a great summer resort hotel called Overlook during the winter season . But then the writer becomes possessed by it .
Having turned down directing a sequel to The exorcist (1973), Kubrick made his own horror film: The shining (1980) , today regarded as one of the best terror movies ever made. Stephen King (whose novel the film was based upon) reportedly didn't like Kubrick's adaptation . One of 'Stanley Kubrick''s favorite films was Eraserhead, directed by David Lynch , he cited the film as a creative influence during the making of The Shining and screened Eraserhead to put the cast and crew in the mood he wanted to achieve for the film. The director keeps things at a snail's pace , but he carries out scary moments and amazing scenes . Nicholson' s performance approaches high levels . There is a great deal of confusion regarding this film and the number of retakes of certain scenes . According to the Guinness Book of Records, the scene where Wendy is backing up the stairs swinging the baseball bat was shot 127 times, which is a record for the most takes of a single scene. The picture is shot in the Academy ratio (1.37:1) and features shots down the length of tall, parallel walls, the maze and hotel corridors in . And Steadicam operator Garrett Brown accomplished many of the ultra-low tracking corridor sequences from a wheelchair on which his invention was mounted.
Excellent costume design by Milena Canonero and magnificent production design by Roy Walker , all of the interior rooms of The Overlook Hotel were filmed at Elstree Studios in England, including The Colorado Lounge, where Jack does his typing. Because of the intense heat generated from the lighting used to recreate window sunlight . To construct the interiors of the Overlook, Stanley Kubrick and his production designer, Roy Walker purposely set out to make it look like an amalgamation of bits and pieces of real hotels, rather than giving it one single design ethic. Kubrick had sent many photographers around the country photographing hotel rooms and picking his favorite. For example, the red men's bathroom was modeled on a men's room in the Biltmore Hotel in Arizona designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Colorado lounge was modeled on the lounge of the Ahwanee Hotel in the Yosemite Valley. Indeed, the chandeliers, windows and fireplace are nearly identical, so much so that people entering the Ahwahnee often ask if it's "the Shining hotel". Colorful and luxurious cinematography by John Scott , Kubrick's usual filmed on location in Colorado, Glacier National Park, Montana,Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana,Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood, Oregon, (Overlook Hotel exterior), Yosemite National Park, California and Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK . Creepy and eerie musical score , Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind wrote and performed a full electronic score for the film, but Kubrick discarded most of it and used a soundtrack of mostly classical music , only the adaptation of Hector Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" during the opening credits, a few other brief moments survive in the final version . Rating : Above average , it is considered to be one of the history's best horror films . Despite receiving generally unfavorable reviews upon its initial release, the film is today deeply regarded In 2001, it was ranked 29th on AFI list. In 2003, Jack Torrance was named the 25th greatest villain on the Villains' AFI list. This well produced film by Jan Harlan was named the scariest film of all time by Channel 4 in 2003, and Total Film had it as the 5th greatest horror film in 2004. The motion picture will appeal to Jack Nicholson fans and Stanley Kubrick buffs .