Great movie, typical Kubrick

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2007)

The Shining is a great film that completely grips you from start to finish. There's a slow build up that Nicholson played perfectly. Kubrick's direction was nothing short of fantastic. I've heard so many debates about this version not being true to the book or whatever. I personally never read the book, but I'm sure it's really good, very scary and very interesting. King is a great author and I'm sure on paper the story is very well told. Although, a film and a book are 2 completely different mediums. There are some stories that won't translate well from books to movies if you go line by line. A good filmmaker, like Kubrick, knows what to keep in and what to alter for the screen. A book can be easily more descriptive and more explanatory than a film. A good author can justify almost anything in a book because it can be very well written. Kubrick did exactly what he needed to do in order to make the this story suitable for the screen. He changed what needed to be changed and added his own frightening touch to it. And he completely blew me away for a director who never has done horror. Stanley was the best, he had a way of taking any story and telling it beautifully visually.