Aged Well Like a Fine Wine!

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2006)

I vividly remember that back in 1980, THE SHINING was severely panned by both critics and fans of the book alike. My mother read the book way before the film was released and when she saw the movie she was quite pleased. I never read the book but I think THE SHINING was a very good movie. Released at a time when the norm for "hip" horror was the "slasher" genre established by HALLOWEEN and more notoriously Friday THE 13th. THE SHINING, with its moody, creepy atmosphere, eerie soundtrack and seldom body count set itself greatly apart from other "slasher" flicks of the time. While I do like Friday THE 13th, I'll be the first to admit that it looks extremely dated and that it is the basis for SCARY MOVIE and its sequels. Even many Fangoria readers trashed THE SHINING for not being gory enough, but the charm of this movie is the sheer creepiness and the atmosphere it creates. In this respect, THE SHINING is closer to THE CHANGELING (another haunted house movie that has aged extremely well) than to the slasher flicks that were its peers. Jack Nicholson's performance is outstanding and although he did look like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown long before strange things started happening at the hotel I think his casting was correct. Same goes to Shelly Duvall who does great as Jack's wife Wendy. I have seen THE SHINING many times and all I can say is that the movie has stood the test of time and looks as vibrant and as offbeat today as it did 26 years ago. Unfortunately, a lot of horror movies of that era look ridiculously outdated. This means Mr.Kubrik was right all along!