Thrilling, but not as much as the book

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2006)

This movie is really good and full of suspense. The Room 237-scene and the elevator scene and show that Stanley Kubrick can be a very good director. But especially the end of the movie differs completely from that end in the novel which does not make the film better. In the book Jack does not get mad completely and tells his son to run away of him. In the book Jack dies and Wendy and Danny go with Mr.Hallorann which is more convincing than Jack's freezing in the labyrinth. There are also some very thrilling parts in the book which are missing in the film, probably because of a too low budget. In the book there are hedges in the garden which can move and persecute Danny,Wendy and Jack. If you only see the film you do not know exactly why the film's title is "The Shining". The appearance of Tony and the fact that Hallorann comes back to the hotel although of the snow seem to be superfluous. All in all you can say that the film is really good and exciting, but the book is better.