It's terrifying until you realize how ridiculous it is

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2016)

What is horror? When you're watching a movie you are not at physical risk. Surprise. The two ways you create horror is by putting in danger characters you care about or planting a story that you feel could happen to you. For me this did neither. The first half was absolutely terrifying. The camera work, creepy music and use of desolate rooms was very effective. Seeing Jack turn crazy is horrifying, especially since Jack Nicholson does creepy faces better than anyone. The problem is, they introduce the shining which is essentially paranormal and very poorly explained, two things that don't bode well. At first, the visions are creepy but as the movie progresses they just seem more and more ridiculous, particularly since they can actually move things. Again, the reason why isn't explained at all making this frustrating to watch if you haven't read the book. A lot of these are introduced but have no closure so I can't help but wonder why were they in there? Towards the end, Jack is hunting his son, which was terrifying, but then it cuts to Wendy seeing visions that were so cartoonish I laughed. Way to kill the suspense. there are three characters in this movie and the only one I cared about is the villain. Wendy and Danny were loathsome so at times I was rooting for Jack which should not be the goal of a horror movie. Also, Jack is constantly complaining about how much he works but we never see him work once. Not only does this devalue the character's arc but it also doesn't make sense. He was given several tasks that he never does but there is no apparent effect on the building which raises the question: Why is he needed there in the first place? Ultimately, this movie succeeded at being creepy for the majority of the movie, but it makes hardly any sense and several scenes kill the tension.