Read the book aswell!

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2004)

Being a fan of Jack Nicholson, Stephen King and the art of great horror movies, The Shining was just destined to be one of my favorite movies of all time. If you've read the book, you'll know how complex the story of The Shining really is, with it's intricate emotions and sensitive relationships, that come together to give the full picture that the story really should be viewed as, and ultimately, the film is somewhat forced to ignore. What we fail to see from the film is the real sense of a family tie between the three, and most obviously, the affection Jack Torrence really feels for his son. What we see is just a naturally spaced out sense of madness from Jack Nicholson right from the start! And a real feeling of detachment. His performance, in actual fact is colossal no doubt, it's actually fascinating how well he can strike such a sense of madness into the character.
My favourite scenes,easily, are firstly when he lets rip at his wife Wendy when she innocently interrupts him while he's working, and then of course the scene with Lloyd in the ballroom. If there's one thing that Jack Nicholson is the absolute master of, it's the solo performance. That scene in the ballroom (before Lloyd appears) is just an absolute master class! As well as the eerie encounter with Grady, the ghostly butler.
The main disadvantage of the film is the exclusion of the detailed gradual spiralling of Jack Torrence's mental state. the book is not only an epic horror, but also a heart-wrenching story of the mental decline of a loving father who'd battled alcoholism and re-defined himself and his life, to better his family. But Kubrick clearly had to decide where he was gonna go with the movie, wether it was to follow the book and be a story of tragedy, or just be a flat-out horror. The result is a flat-out horror, but a bloody good one. He decides to remove the substance the book holds, and just create an eerie, psychological masterclass of madness. Jack Nicholson is immense, with Shelley Duvall setting the un-toppable standard of looking absolutely terror-stricken.
I'm no expert in directing, but it is clear to see that Kubrick is brilliant with this movie. He knows he can't, for time reasons, afford to show the delicate delcine in Jack Torrence, however, he chooses his scenes so effectively! Each one is absolutely memorable, with Nicholson appearing increasingly detached, along with the brilliant inclusion of his crazed stare as a filler between two scenes. Also to his credit, Kubrick invloves his own creations to the story, such as the two terrifying little girls, the waterfalls of blood and of course, the dead woman in the bath. These help to just pile on the fear factor that the book in parts lacks. Although in truth, i found that it wasn't a particularly scary movie, Jack Nicholson's performance is so 'larger-than-life' and over the top (in a good way), that it almost became too great to watch and over shadowed the real underlying fear of the situation. However, the sight of those two little girls sends shivers down your spine and makes you weary walking down hotel corridors at night!
For anybody who has seen the film, but not read the book, i strongly recommend you to do so. It provides a greater outlook, and helps to explain some of the messages that were quickly placed by Kubrick, but were not properly explained due to the restrictions in duration forced on the production.