How'd ya like some ice cream, Doc?

Rating: 10/10 (6 May 2003)

"The Shining" isn't the bloodiest film ever made, or the most violent, and given the plot it shouldn't even be very suspenseful: we know early on that Jack's gonna whack his family. We just don't know how. Yet Kubrick sustains this slowly building tension, with superb help from background score by Wendy Carlos and other incidental noises, until it becomes almost unbearable. He pioneered use of the steady-cam, chiefly following Danny on his Bigwheel, which fast became standard equipment in Hollywood. The scene where Danny turns the corner and encounters the two Grady girls in the hallway ("come play with us DANNY!") still gives me the chills. Fans of the book hated the killing of Hallorann, but it is necessary to propel the plot (and Danny) toward the stunning conclusion. The paradoxical final shot is pure Kubrick; he wanted movie watching to be an active experience. Final stroke of genius is easy to miss, especially in a theater: the soundtrack band was recorded live, and at the end of the tune the audience applauds, then files out of the music hall, shuffling chairs and talking -- exactly what the "real" audience is doing in the theater! Like all Kubrick films, this one rewards repeated viewings, "The Shining" even more than most.