Captivating stuff

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2003)

This is great work from Kubrick, and has all the hallmarks of his films; innovative camera angles and movement, blocks of solid colour and structure, quality acting and just a dash of bizarre. The Shining is not for the easily scared, but for those with an open mind it is chilling, surreal and completely captivating. Some have said The Shining has not aged well; I disagree. If anything the *slightly* dated setting and structure of the film just add to the sense of surrealism and detachment, which is a good thing in this case.
If The Shining had been made today, it would have been a turkey, because there are only four actors who spend any amount of time on screen, the dialogue is short and sometimes cryptic, and it would probably be too unsettling to stare at Jack Nicholson's 'psychopath' face for pretty much a solid minute as you have to do in the film.
I love this film; it's excellent work.
p.s. It bears some resemblance to The Thing (1982) with it's claustrophobic setting and copious snow - I won't go into more detail for fear of producing spoilers, but I recommend you watch that film if you like this one.