The Best Horror I Have Ever Seen

Rating: Null/10 (14 September 2004)

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** "The Shining", thus far, ranks as the most effective, scary horror ever produced by Hollywood. Working as both a frightening horror and a psychological suspense, this, in my opinion, is the most chilling film ever made. It brilliantly delves into an underworld of terror and destruction, wherein a haunted lodge is once a study for a recovering alcoholic writer soon becomes the subject of his derangement and antipathy. Featuring some of the most brilliant direction ever (particularly the scene in the study where Jack Nicholson surprises his meddling wife) and some chilling music and sound mixing to correlate with sheer horrors (e.g. the bloody river), this is that rare, ingenious horror film many of us film fanatics lust for. Jack Nicholson is brilliantly brooding as the crazed Torrence, who becomes consumed by the lodge's wicked deceptions and is ultimately transformed into the prime villain, when we blindly assume all along that he and his family are the lodge's unsuspecting victims. This is much, much more than a story about a family at the wrong place at the wrong time, but a meticulous study of psychological depression and consumption, and the particular elements that trigger eventual madness. Meanwhile, the prickly hairs on the back of our neck are constantly affected, as you find yourself shrieking through one horrifying scene after another. The woman in the bathtub and the two murdered twins standing at the end of the hall stand out as the scariest scenes of the film as well as cinema. The little boy's special ability to mentally communicate with outside forces ("the shining") serves as an important element to the plot throughout the film, and is an ingenious, original element for horror. This is the most brilliant, chilling, and effective horror guaranteed to make you shriek, quiver, and keep your eyes awake. "Here's Johnny!" "Red Rum" These lines, among other features, are notorious, renewed classics in film-making, and "The Shining" still ranks as a true masterpiece of horror, every bit as effective today as more than twenty years ago, and that is a true accomplishment. **** out of ****