Review of Room 237 (2012) by Colm M — 20 Aug 2013

First off , OK I did find the theories around the impossible architecture and deliberate removal of continuity very attractive. Those particular segments did make me realize that these elements are a big part of what makes The Shinning extremely unsettling because this is what happens in real nightmares.

The illogical, the lack of symmetry and the lack of control is what makes nightmares terrifying. If this was deliberate from Kubrick then I am even more impressed and disturbed than I was before watching Room 237.

Everything else is sheer crazy delusion from fanatic pseudo-intellectuals. So listening to the mad theories is entertaining up to a point but I found myself becoming bored with their mental masturbation.

There were too many of these crazy ideas included. "Only a fanatic like me will see these things" one guy claims. Replace the word fanatic with lunatic and you'll have a better understanding of whats going on for most of this documentary.

The production must have been done on a shoe-string. Its just a mish-mash of Kubrick movie scenes with the voices of theorists over the top. I would at least liked to have seen these fanatics! It wouldn't have cost that much more surely? For this reason it loses half a star.

Near the end one theorist observes that the messages are there whether Kubrick meant them or not. Like a kind of universal symbolism. That was a nice touch which gave the documentary a neat ending and some kind of validation.