One Of The Great Horror Films

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2000)

This movie scares me every time I see it. The music will have your skin crawling just like mine is with every viewing. I saw a scene from an old black and white film called 'Curse of the Demon' with a scene of a character walking through a hallway with similar creepy music playing like the hallway scenes in 'The Shining'. I wonder if that film is where Kubrick got some of his inspiration for the mood of this flick. The visuals are both horrifying and beautiful. And like all Kubrick films there is a good dose of humor throughout the picture.
Be sure to find a recent copy so you can see the short documentary on the making of 'The Shining'. Scatman Crothers was honored to the point of tears to be involved with this picture as you will gather from the short interview they have with him. Seeing Jack Nicholson brush his teeth before going back to set is also good from some grins. A feature length documentary and an in depth interview with Stanley Kubrick himself would've been nicer though. Kubrick was such a private person I guess we should be glad they got what little footage they did of him.

Jack Nicholson gives possibly his greatest performance as well. Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers and the little boy Danny do terrific acting jobs too. See 'The Shining' and watch at night with the lights out and prepare yourself for a night of having the wits scared out of you. Later alligator...