The World of Stanley Kubrick: The Shining.

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2005)

The Shining (1980) was Stanley Kubrick's attempt to make a bona fide horror film. Despite the fact that he has never really directed one, he was infatuated with the project. He read the novel by Stephen King and set out to recreate the novel, his own way. What we get is a cold ans sterile film that resembles the original source material some what. We get a maniacal and crazed Jack Nicholson, a doormat Shelly Duvall and a minor actor/performer Scatman Crothers a shot a some big time acting. The actors were "motivated" by the director's work but it just didn't work out as one might felt it should have.
Technically, the film was good (despite the many takes the film is filled with a multitude of errors and goofs). A film maker who doesn't understand the genre shouldn't try to implement their ideas when making such a film. The movie itself was a disappointment to die hard Stephen King fans but it gave Jack Nicholson an even greater level of success as an cult actor and made the line "Here's Johnny" even more popular than it has ever been. A lot of the dialog involving Jack Nicholson was improvised (the documentary shot by Vivian Kubrick shows him working himself up into character!) A nerve racking shoot filled with a lot of tension and nervousness.
Overall I would have to say that the film was a brilliant failure. A flop as a horror film but brilliant on every other level. In order for a film like this to work properly you need either a top notch horror film maker or heavy involvement and input from the writer. If you want to see why Jack Nicholson fans rave over this movie then you need to see him in action. This is the film! I would have to recommend this film with caution for non-Kubrick fans and horror fanatics in general.
Recommended.