Be prepared to be scared

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2004)

*Contains Spoilers*
This movie, I think, is the greatest horror movie made. The Ring is also terrifying, but it is all explained in the end. But this movie is done very cleverly, and leaves the viewer to draw their own conclusions. So really, this movie isn't for the not-so-clever people. It is explained to an extent, but the mystery really adds to the sheer tension throughout the the movie.
Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrence (in a brilliant performance) who gets the job of being the caretaker of the Overlook hotel. He learns in the job interview that the hotel was built on an Indian burial ground, and the last caretaker went crazy and chopped his family up with an axe and blew his brains out with a shotgun. Of course unfazed, he takes the job and takes his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Llyod) with him. Danny has a special gift: he is a physic and has a 'boy who lives in his mouth' named Tony who 'tells him things.' Danny says Tony doesn't want to the Overlook, and shows Danny a terrifying premonition of blood pouring through a door, which then shows a flash of 'the two little girls.' They absolutley scared the hell out of me and I hope it scares you the same. What follows is the rest of this horrifying movie that contains some of the most frightening scenes I've ever seen. They include; Danny's eventual confrontation with the two girls, the woman in 237, Jack slowly going mad in several scenes, and the unexplained but strangely scary scene with the guy in the bear suit. This scene, like the little girls was done brilliantly because they seem to be staring at you, and is quite discomforting.
Disturbing, strange, terrifying, and extremely scary are only a few words to describe this film. Jack Nicholson made this film what it is with his brilliant acting, and Stanley Kubrick made a masterpiece.
9.5/10