simply fantastic

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 2003)

From the outset of this movie, i just new i was in for one hell of an experience, and that's exactly what i got. It is totally encapsulating. Unlike many films of the horror genre, The Shining is a very well rounded package of brilliance. In stanley kubrick's uniquely adapted style, you can sense the undercurrent of fear and corruption bubbling up as if you have a new found sixth sense. He captures each characters essence and reverberates it around the hotel. Danny on the his little trike riding through the corridors is a perfect example of kubrick's mix of uniformed militance and raw emotion - there is no need for music to build the tension, the silence serves as a better substitute and allows you to hear the devestatingly good sound of the wheels running over the wood, then the carpet, wood then the carpet. Like a heartbeat. This, for me, is part of what gets this film under your skin, and plays around with the very roots of our emotions- the now very real possibility of a murderous father. Utter vulnerability.