All time classic horror film

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2017)

This film is simply beautiful. Shelley Duvall is indefatigable and subtle in her role as Wendy Torrance, wife of Jack Torrance (played by Nicholson). I believe this film is a part of Jack Nicholson; there is a craziness to him that is compelling but frightful. The actors are perfectly cast. I was really unprepared for the stunning visual beauty of this film. I had expected it to be somehow "corny," or "jump- scare" predictable. It is amazing to watch Nicholson's character transform....don't want to give too much away for subsequent readers of IMDb who may not yet have viewed this classic.
The interior scenes are almost an allegory to the writer's (Jack Torrance, played by Nicholson) empty pages, waiting to be filled; the interior shots are striking; huge, vast expanses of the hotel which stretch out for what seems scores of yards, yet lending a menacing, fearful feel to the writer's doubt and apprehension that he will ever be able to complete his task. One the one hand, a huge, beautiful empty, quiet hotel in the dead of winter seems the idyllic atmosphere for a visiting muse, but on the other hand, something is underneath the exterior calm; something distressing.
Truly visually beautiful and suspenseful throughout. I hadn't realized that the interiors of the hotel in the film were based on Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park (per Wiki) and that a sound stage *as big as* the exterior of the real life hotel was built for production. It's fascinating to read about the production of this film, and how it compares to the book (by Stephen King). A true horror classic, and yet surely a groundbreaking film in so many ways. This film cements Nicholson's acting brilliance, and is another Kubrick classic.