Here's Johnny!........how horror should be

Rating: 10/10 (19 March 2007)

Horror films are associated with extreme and sickening violence/gore, lunatic killers and mostly focus on teenagers. They are mostly just poor excuses to put extreme violence on film to appeal to younger people, and nearly all, with a few exceptions such as Saw, are totally crap. Violence doesn't make a film good. In making The Shining, Stanley Kubrick has shown the world how horror films should be made.
There are none of the predictable bad-guy-jumps-out-of-the-dark scenes to try and scare you. Instead Kubrick builds up suspense with the chilling musical score, and Jack Torrance gradually gets driven insane. Jack Nicholson is perfect to portray the character of Torrance. Not only is he a brilliant actor anyway, but he looks perfect for the part. He isn't your stereotyped perfect-looks actor, I don't think someone like Brad Pitt would be as effective playing his part. Pitt is a great actor, but you can't imagine someone like him going insane in a weird hotel! I think the cast is important to this film. Kubrick cast a proper leading actor and actress, rather than the randomly assembled casts of young 20 year olds you get in most horror films. And hey! The result is way better.
There are a perfect amount of genuine horror scenes, such as the famous axe scene, and the scene in the maze, and it never goes over the top. There is also some unique horror scenes, such as when Jack writes about 1,000 pages of the same words, and the visions of the blood from the elevator and the little girls. They are bizarre but very effective in building suspense.
The storyline is also much more effective than the usual story of teenagers being pursued by a lunatic murderer. A man stuck in a hotel for the winter with just his family who gradually goes insane is much more original and much much much more effective. Horror films are meant to be scary, and this really is. There are many scenes showing Jack's willingness to give in to temptation, and how he wants to get away from his wife and weird son. The camera-work is also excellent, as it builds up tension by moving along the corridors, and it also emphasises that Jack is feeling confined in the hotel.
Stephen King didn't like Kubrick's interpretation of his novel, I can't believe how. Kubrick just made it better! This is a top film and is a landmark for horror films.