Review of The Shining (1980) by Smags — 05 Feb 2014

Based off the legendary novel by Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" is a classic horror film with an excellent portrayal of what happens when an individual loses their touch with reality. Technically speaking, this is a flawless movie. However, "The Shining" does lose some points for two reasons: The flawed acting by some characters, and the obvious fact of Kubrick deviating from the novel.

Despite the blatant flaws, it must be noticed that "The Shining" has many things going for it. For example, everyone knows the front cover of the film and the exact scene that is displayed. Needless to say, "Here's Johnny!" is the most recognized quote from the film, and is argued by some to be more legendary than when it was said by Ed McMahon. Beside the legendary quote, the biggest pro "The Shining" owns is that it is seemingly a perfectly executed technical movie, such as the great use of lighting at certain parts and how Kubrick was able to make every shot important and relevant. On a deeper note, "The Shining" has a very dark overlying tone throughout the movie which, personally, is an essential in any great horror film. The evil, sinister music that can be heard periodically throughout the film only helps in establishing its dark tone.

On the other hand, despite the seemingly perfect directing, Kubrick is let down in a very disappointing way. As beautifully directed as this film is, it is only right for Kubrick to be given flawless acting. Sadly, this is not the case. Presented to the viewer is the laughable, embarrassing, and seemingly effortless acting, especially by Shelly Duvall, with the prime exception of Jack Nicholson. However, it is an even bigger disappointment that Kubrick let the audience down with his defiant variation of the novel. While the film is good and worth the watch, it would have been nice to see how it would've looked if he had stayed truer to the book, much like "A Clockwork Orange".

All in all, "The Shining", while having some slight disappointments by the actors and director, comes up as a victory for cinema, and is definitely worth the watch.