Overrated and a bore

Rating: Null/10 (15 November 1999)

I've tried, really tried several times to sit down and watch this movie and find its redeeming qualities...what am I missing? Most people I know who've seen it rate it as one of the scariest movies of all time. I'm sorry, but I don't agree. It has its creepy moments. Jack Nicholson does a fair job of becoming increasingly deranged, there is some tension there, but scary? I don't know. Shelly Duvall is horrid, I just keep visualizing her as Olive Oyl, and it doesn't work. She is whiny and ineffectual; it is hard for me to empathize with her, and I find the little boy more and more irritating as the movie progresses. But the primary feeling I get is not fright, but utter boredom. Everything moves so slowly, so languidly that I find it hard to be interested, let alone frightened. I am not a great Kubrick fan, with maybe the exception being "Clockwork Orange"...so I am sure those who like his style might find it appealing. To each his own...