Loved the Shining!

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 1999)

I was an impressionable third-grader when cable television first appeared in my neighborhood. At virtually the same time, all of my classmates (and myself) were quickly exposed to Apocalypse Now, "10", Seems Like Old Times, The Warriors, and The Shining. I'm sure any adult would find it darkly amusing to see eight year olds running around a playground, little Col. Kilgores and Jack Torrances, uttering the lines that made those characters immortal - but hey - we're children of the 80's. The Shining scared the bejeezus out of me, and even now I recognize how disturbing this film really is. The book is also excellent. I think it's King's most frightening yet - when the hotel directs those "pychic blasts" at Scatman Crothers' character, my hairs stood up on end. We shouldn't forget that Kubric was a transcendant director, something which few directors have accomplished - only Coppola, Kurosawa, and a select cotiere of others can claim that. One thing that I haven't heard anyone mention is the excellent look of the film - amazing cinematography, and remarkable set design. Considering how dated some 80's films look, this one still looks pretty current.
This film is not merely about madness, or a haunting. It's really about both, and about destiny. Shirley Jackson, a sort of precursor of King's (he is a big fan of her work), posits this question: "can a house be inherently evil?" King posits this question directly in Salem's Lot, and addresses it in the Shining. And amazingly, so does Kubrick. The Overlook Hotel attracts evil to its bosom across space AND time. And THAT is the main idea. The domestic horrors we witness are the grisly result, not the main objective.