On The Scary Side

Rating: 7/10 (24 August 2017)

I am not one who enjoys scary/horror movies at all, but I know this movie to be deemed a "classic" and a "must see" by many, so I gave it a try.
As the movie is pulled out over some 2 1/2+ hours, it is critical for the building of the story line. For a large portion of the film we watch a seemingly normal family settle into an easy job tending to a large resort in Colorado for a few months in the off-season. The family uses it as a time to both work and relax. All the while viewers know that something is going to go terribly wrong somewhere along the lines.
Unlike in today's "horror" films, the action is not in your face, which has grown to become boring. It is instead slow building as we watch the characters develop. Jack slowly begins to become anxious and upset by his work load and wife, and we watch cabin fever slowly set in as he becomes obsessed with making Wendy (his wife) and Danny (his son) pay for their misbehavior at the resort after a visit from ghosts past.
Within the last 45 minutes or so we watch Jack's mental state come crashing down, and with it he tries to bring his family. He is set on killing them, trashing his ax into the resort's cook and then tearing into their bedroom on a wild hunt for Wendy.
The most spectacular part of it all is not only the famous one-liners ("heeereee's Johnny!!") and light bit of dark humor sprinkled into the madness, but the sheer unpredictability of it all. In the thousands of square feet laid out in front of them, will Danny and Wendy manage their way out? Or will they live (or shall I say die) to haunt The Overlook as well?
The story is not only intriguing, but the acting is authentic, almost to a point where you question the actual mental state of Jack Nicholson. His facial expressions, tone of voice, and mannerisms throughout the film are slow building and hold a lasting affect.
It was a movie that, even today, sets a standard for horror films that many movies fall short of in all of their predictability and tired clichÃ©s. Definitely worth the watch.