Shining
Long considered one of the benchmarks of the horror genre, Kubrick’s sole attempt at a scary movie is visually stunning to say the least, with the opening montage of shots over the Colorado Rockies (and the effective opening music), sweeping us into a world of fear like few other flicks. The biggest discernible flaw the film has is in spite of a handful of important characters and one basic location, it does kind of drag at times, and the pacing and 2 and a half hour length kinda wears the viewer out during what is basically a simple story (though the ill-advised remake was even MORE guilty of this during its unbearable build-up). The differences between this movie and King’s original book bear Kubrick out as the better storyteller though, as King’s Jack Torrance was a good-hearted family man destroyed and turned into a monster by his alcoholism, while Kubrick’s was (rightfully) a short-tempered prick to begin with whose turning to evil was just an act of natural evolution. Nicholson was stunning in one of his most iconic roles, bringing the right level of menace and sympathy to Torrance, with the exception of one scene: the much ballyhooed “Here’s Johnny!” door chopping sequence. For all its acclaim, this is the one scene where Nicholson’s acting goes a bit too far into self-parody, becoming a laughable caricature instead of the tortured human being we had been watching, but thankfully things get back on track from then on. As for the others, Duvall has a weird sex appeal about her as Wendy, even if DeMornay in the remake was loads hotter, Danny Lloyd gives an impressive, intense, little-kid performance, leagues above the physically deformed kid that played his part in the remake, Crothers handles his scenes well, while Philip Stone and Joe Turkel as the main ghosts in the hotel have a suitable darkness about them. Really, why King insisted on having a remake done apparently to soothe his own ego is beyond me, Kubrick got it just right, and while not the end-all be-all of horror some consider it, it’s stylish and entertaining enough to proudly be part of the Kubrick ouerve…
9/10