Decent Horror Film, But...

Rating: 6/10 (6 September 2014)

I'm not saying that The Shining is a bad movie, far from it. What I don't understand is how it currently has an 8.5/10 rating when it really isn't all that original. What I think earned it the rating it has is the acting, nostalgia and that it's a Stephen King movie. The acting was very good, as was the soundtrack, it's the plot itself that is lacking.
Right away one of the big clichés of horror comes up: the child who has a disturbing imaginary friend. I've seen this in countless other books and movies, from the book 'No Place for Eco-Sinners' to the movie 'Hide & Seek'. Granted The Shining was made before these two were made, but still, it's been used as far back as the 1950's in media and it's a little old after a while. The second cliché is the stigma of mental illness; the husband in the movie (Jack Nicholson), has a mental breakdown in the hotel and causes him to go on a murder rampage.
The Shining, more than anything else, is a ghost story. A man gets a job during the winter looking after a hotel and brings his wife and little boy with him. He is a recovered alcoholic and injured his son previously. He has a mental breakdown while working there, induced by what is either ghosts or figments of his insane mind, and they convince him to try and kill his family.
It's a basic horror plot, not very original, if you combined Magic (1977) with Poltergeist, you'd end up with The Shining. I didn't hate it, it was pretty good actually. But I don't think it deserves an 8.5 rating, that's just my opinion. My favorite movie, low-budget as it is, will always be My Bloody Valentine (1981, not the 2009 remake). The Shining has it's moments but has its flaws, as well.
For the record, there was one very brief scene I'll never understand: Wendy, the wife, is screaming and trying to escape the hotel, then sees in one of the rooms, the hotel owner having sex with a man in a Winnie the Pooh costume. She screams and runs away. I've read the book and it still never explains what on earth was going on there, and frankly I think I'm better off not knowing.