Still Scary, 23 years later

Rating: 9/10 (12 August 2003)

I admit, I've never read The Shining (never been a big Steven King fan), so can't compare the book and the movie.
I won't really break down the plot for you - it's posted on the IMDB main page anyway. Basically a family goes to a haunted mansion to take care of it for the winter. The father, Jack, (Nicholson) is struggling to write a book, while ghosts from the mansion plague his mind.
I can't really say much about the acting in the movie...there are really only 3 characters in the movie that appear for any significant ammount of time (the family), and since you can't really judge a child of acting ability, that just leaves Jack and his wife. Nicholson does an excellent job portraying Jack, perhaps one of the best of his career.

The score is great, when noticed. Not much to say there.

Let me say one thing: This movie is freaky. Not the "Boo!" kind (though there is some of that), but the "Mess-With-Your-Mind" kind. The blood down the elevator shaft is especially scary.
That's about all I can say. A very freaky movie that stands up well, despite 23 years of filmaking progress.
James "Black Wolf" Johnston