Kubrick is the MAN!

Rating: 9/10 (8 February 2000)

*SPOILERS INCLUDED*
First off, Kubrick was the most imaginative director ever! This film is one of the proofs to that. Stephen King may have hated the version of his novel (he remade his own version), but I think this was a way better story than the book. In the book, no one died except Jack (blew himself up) and a couple people in flashbacks. In the movie, Jack freezes to death and the death of the chef Halloran was included. The movie took the audience to places where the book could not. The constant flashbacks to the murdered children in the hallway was probably one of the spookiest things I've ever seen in a movie. The ending in the book: Jack forgets to tend to the furnace and blows himself up. Just not scary. In the movie: Jack chases Danny (his son) through a shrubbery maze and freezes to death searching for him. Still not incredibly scary, but the image of Jack's frozen body is rather "chilling." Also, the movie changes Jack's weapon to an axe, way more frightening than a croquet mallet. The axe also makes the added death of Halloran scary and gory. Let's just say that if King had a problem with this movie, he's lost his scary touch.