Nobody can conquer this movie, you think you have cracked its purpose, you have not even come close. It is just too damn tremendous.

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2015)

Watching this horror masterpiece from the Kubrick of Stanley (Stanley Kubrick), I personally never understood nor entirely loved, but with this re-watching; I accept "The Shining" is something on it's own level and deserve it's labels, "first epic horror film." I may have seen it over and over, so much so I reference it in other reviews as a fine film, the film itself is an enigma to me, which is why I watched Vivian Kubrick's the making of The Shining just before sitting through the real thing, hoping it would help me have a good conclusion on this orchestra of a horror film.
I think there may not be a huge massage behind his weird and irregularity of showing you something profound and questioning, I think his huge IQ helped him understand a film that is hard to pin down is just entertaining throughout, never once is "The Shining" or Kubrick or other unique movies (Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove) boring. I'm thinking it is all to keep the suspecting viewer on there toes, like a game of chess. Get ready for this craziness, the owner of The Overlook looks a lot like John F Kennedy and the American flag on his desk as well as stenciled name on his desk is well, and his saying goodbye to the beautiful girls walking by as he shows Jack around, JFK was a ladies man. Kinda like the fake moon landing theories addressed in the reality poking documentary about "The Shining," Room 237. But leaving secret massages out of it, it is just an excellently made film, stating the obvious of course, with it unquestionable Kubrick style that can not be cloned or even reached in today's cinematic experience. It's movies like "The Shining" that proves what a daisy of beauty the art form of film, can be.
Jack Torrance (Nicholson) with his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and his psychic son Danny (retired: Danny Lloyd) are gonna spend the rest of the year util May in The Overlook Hotel, Jack Torrance has taken the job as the caretaker for the empty hotel, because of the frost biting snow storm that hits leaving any body inside stranded. Leaving Jack with a abundance of time to get through writers block, that seems to be caused by his family more the seclusion of the Hotel. Wendy cleans and cares for the hotel while Danny enjoys the spoils of a child, while he keeps getting weird premonitions from his psychic ability, the cook who also has some supernatural ability tells him in the beginning it is called the shining, it seems his shining is centered around room 237, which the cook, Dick tells him never to go inside. When Danny finally breaks the advice Dick gave him and walks through the threshold of room 237 he sets in motion unintentionally, an uninvited, gruesome set of events that leads agitated Jack Torrance on a roller coaster of inanity, or could it be the ghosts of Overlooks past dealing a contract to execute a gory unjust killing.
I feel Kubrick exploited his cast in this- Jack Nicholson's talent to express raw emotion with his iconic acting and Shelly Duvall's beautifully weird looming presents equal of annoyance, to perfectly get the same felling her role is given to Torrance, of unintentionally annoying him to the point were we see through her acting in itself making us hate her as much. Keeps this horror/frightening presents in every frame like a stretched jumpscare. With the kids plain acting skill for him to dully and act frightful in a bowl of elixir of casting along with Stanley Kubrick question mark of direction and brushed screen of weirdly dark purple and red colors painted on the Overlook canvas of plain white. The output is something that baffles and amazes whoever watch's and always finding something with this film with every watch, pushing the unanswered question that looms in the form of horror what exactly is happening on screen in this simple plot that seems to become trivial compared to the unquestionably masterclass look of movie magic.