Subtle build-up: Terrifying

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2003)

Kubrick and Nicholson prove throughout this horror epic that good direction and acting tell a better tale than multi-million dollar special effects. Berlioz over the opening credits sets the stage for a slow, deliberate feeling of dread. SPOILER ALERT-- If you need an explosion in every other scene and a body-count in the hundreds before a movie reaches its' finale, this is not for you. The Shining is a horror picture that actually requires you to imagine a little of what scares the hell out of you rather than having it spelled out-- END SPOILER... This is an intelligent depiction of what frightens people the most and that, after all, is what can conceivably happen. Isolation equals boredom and Jack isn't very nice when he gets bored.