The Shining

Rating: 7/10 (3 July 2007)

This is the 1980 movies and when I saw its poster I immediately remembered and related the Jack Nicholson's photo that matched the poster of this movie. This was the poster that was on a book  Top 1000 movies to see before you die. I read the reviews of this movie  good and bad both; especially those who hated the movie were those who had read the book. I was fortunate that I saw the moving without reading the book. This helps in enjoying it more.
So this was my opportunity to see the movie. The prior knowledge that this movie is a horror movie is not a good thing to know, because one pre-conditions one mind to prepare for seeing something horror  and that is the drawback of our minds.
The story is based on Stephen King's novel  The Shining. It is about a hotel in US that remains closed during winter snowing for six months. The author Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson), wants to go to an isolated place to write a new book and remove the writer's block. He is selected as a care-taker for 6 months of this hotel, and plans to go with his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd). In the beginning they are very happy and excited to be in this enormous place with nobody around. But as time passes Jack starts becoming insane due to these isolation, and the ghosts of the hotel inspire him to kill his son.
The movie mostly revolves around these three characters, but there are two more big characters in the movies  the sound track and camera work. The knowledge of this being a horror movie  makes us view every scene with an expectation of something will happen, and that is what creates a feeling of tension. A simple shot of child driving his small tricycle in the empty corridors of the hotel is chilling to say the least. The child stopping and looking at the half open door  is enormously terrifying than seeing a crude make-up ghost in drab movies like Evil Dead etc.
The director  Stanley Kubrick has not used night scenes, dark images, shocking editing, sudden entry, loud bangs to awake us to realize it is a horror movie. But he uses subtle consistent musical score that builds up on your nerves. The opening long shots of the journey to the mountain are breath-taking.
Jack Nicholson is as his usual self. He has his own style and whims. Anyways as always he has acted well. Shelley Duvall brings life to her role as a typical housewife  who is modest, next door looks, and humane to protect her husband and son; and Danny Lloyd is the best (he actually won the best supporting actor's award) in his role and portrayed the child's character brilliantly.
A trivia I read was that Danny Lloyd did not know that he is working in a horror movie  while shooting was on, and even after 2 years on  he did not know it. He just acted in one more movie before retiring to routine life.
I consider this movie very similar to Omen in creating fear  without using the commercial gimmick of horror movies. Now I can venture to read the book. People say that the book is better than the movie. So I can enjoy it more! (Stars 7.5 out of 10)