Eerie, Tense, Memorable

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 1999)

"The Shining" is one of the most chilling and memorable horror movies I`ve seen, and I have seen a lot of horror flicks. It may not be faithful to the Stephen King book, but it still manages to have an intensely eerie tone to, even though any traces of a plot are practically absent. Jack Nicholson gives a great performance as always, and his descent into sheer madness is one of the most entertaining things about the movie, especially when he finally snaps, and turns against his own wife and son. Stanley Krubick has been called mysterious, and there is no doubt about it in this movie, almost every scene has some sort of obscurity to it, some mystery, and it forces to the viewer to feel at least a little bit frightened. Krubick is actually quite brilliant in the way he transforms almost every seemingly normal thing into something menacing, such as the snow-bound atmosphere, a set of twin girls, and even some shots of hallways and rooms gave me chills! In a critical way, "The Shining" is not a great film, there isn`t much substance, clarity or depth, but at the same time, you can`t help but be engrossed by it`s strikingly different style and effect. "The Shining" may not hold up to close fault-finding, but it`s certainly one of the most exceptional horror movies ever made.