different from the book but so what?

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2003)

this stands out as one of my absolute favorites in the horror field. along with THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, THE THING(1982), THE EVIL DEAD, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE SIXTH SENCE, THE OTHERS,(many "the" movies here), JAWS, HALLOWEEN, and the list goes on..hard to pin point anyone, but the shining should be wery close to number one.
from the very beginning it has a real creepy atmosphere. the music sets the tone while the camera follows the car on this high mountain road. it just leaves me with a really creepy feeling. the suspence gradually builds up to the end climax, letting you be a part of the claustrophobic athmosphere in the big almost empty hotel. scenes with the kid going through those empty corridors,jack in his huge working office, the party lounge, room 237, the "bleeding" elevator(was this really all set? i thought it was mostly shot on location at the timberline lodge, but later i heard otherwise) And you KNOW that jack will sooner or later go completely bananas and chop through that door(the cover kind of gives that one away) and go for his ovn family.

I must note that i have never read the book, which almost everybody wants to compare it to, but i have now seen(and bought)kings´ own tv version on dvd. this is how he wanted it to be.though he had to make it into a mini-series to get all that he wanted.this might be closer to the book, but still Stanley´s masterpiece is superior.
how many king stories have been made into a movie and how many have received so much bad mouthing as this one? no one i think, even not the really bad ones. CARRIE and MISERY were also pretty different from the books, particularly the endings, but i think King left those pretty much alone. THE SHINING he bad mouthed quite bit. i heard him say in an interview once that movies and books are like apples and oranges, they are both good, but the taste is different. should be ok then, no?
i give this movie a 10/10!!!