Great ghost train ride ruined by dumb plot turn

Rating: 7/10 (22 October 2013)

A family takes on the caretaker job of a haunted hotel - the father develops homicidal psychosis.
When the 1980 'Shining' came out, it was considered surprising that Kubrick should take on the horror genre but there are many touches in TS that echo the spine-tingling bits in 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc. And the extended (typical Kubrick) shots following Danny Torrance either on his go-kart or running through the snowbound maze in the hotel grounds are exactly like a 'haunted house' fairground ride. Good stuff.
Jack Nicholson nails the nasty psychopath writer, the kid acts well in spite of being overdressed most of the time, and Shelley Duvall only just goes over the top. It's an entertaining haunting/horror yarn. Unfortunately there's a dreadful plot mistake when Jack gets locked in the kitchen storeroom, which would seem to have cooked his goose.
The ghosts unlock the door.
This completely breaks the logic of the story because either the haunting is all in the family's heads (which is what we are led to believe), or it isn't. For the ghosts to physically intervene in the story when they haven't before and don't afterwards is a complete clunker. If Jack Torrance had 'always been the caretaker', why not give him inside knowledge of the kitchen that allowed his escape? Stupid, stupid plot turn. But a movie you can re-watch, nonetheless.