A chilling Stephen King adaptation, with Kubrick trying to be different

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2010)

Very loosely based on the book, which is very chilling and shocking, this is a great film. Having seen The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me and It and liking all three of them, I knew I should check out the Shining. I did feel that Jack Torrence's hallucinations, apparitions and time-warps were introduced a little too quickly and the build up to the ending was rushed too. But it is very stylishly filmed, making perfect use of an amazing set built at Elstree and a gliding Steadicam, and the music is atmospheric. The story is also effective, and there are really nice touches in the script. Kubrick here tries to be different, and I think he does a superb job at it. The Shining is more chilling rather than shocking, the blood flowing from the doors and the old woman in the bathtub made my hairs stand up on the back of my neck, and is constantly discomforting in an eerie sort of way. Jack Nicolson gives a barnstorming performance as Jack, a performance that is both hammy and disturbing, and Shelley Duvall does decently in a somewhat thankless role. Young Danny Lloyd is superb as Danny, his chanting of Redrum especially became increasingly hypnotic and distorted. The film concludes with a fairly suspenseful ending, and is overall a film with one or two problems and a very loose adaptation but it is a chilling adaptation with Kubrick succeeding at being different. 9/10 Bethany Cox