Jack is super in this!

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2006)

How much do I love this film? Love Kubrick's vision, direction, camera management and of course, Jack himself. I have read the book 'The Shining' by Stephen King and although Kubrick's film is an entirely different interpretation, I love it! I enjoy how the whole film is panned out so you think you're inside somebody's mind, either Danny's or Jack's, and it is played out like a dream sequence. The essence and eeriness of the characters of the Overlook Hotel affecting Danny's and Jack's minds and how Kubrick directs these events is breathtaking! He's taken horror films to a whole other level and played on the more psychological side of the viewer's mind.
What mostly scares you about 'The Shining' is that it is about a man who has been hired to be caretaker in a beauteous hotel for the winter, and has taken along his wife and son. He appears to be (in the book) a caring family man who, although it is clear that he is an ex-alcoholic and a struggling teacher, is trying to make a go of life with his family. In the film, that is never really brought across and I have to admit that Nicholson didn't really portray Jack Torrance as being a family man right from the start. In the opening half hour he seemed moody, edgy, irritable towards his wife, and hardly spent any time with his son. You couldn't really sense any closeness with the family and you couldn't connect to the characters, so I have to admit that when the ghosts pushed Jack into snapping and attacking his wife and son I really wasn't that shocked by it. That having been said, the scenes in which he does are brilliant. Perhaps this was Kubrick's intention, him being the amazing and original director that he was. He intended to just hit the viewer with this character and wanted to simply draw us into his madness. I have to admit that there were times when I found Wendy simply whiny and annoying, but that just goes to prove what a great actress Shelley Duvall is, and this is the exact reaction that Kubrick wanted. You are there with Wendy and Danny, sensing and feeling their terror as they run from the man they both love and trust. It's an emotional and terrifying movie and it's definitely one you need to watch over and over and over again to fully appreciate. One of the best horror movies ever made, no doubt whatsoever in my mind.