Review of The Shining (1980) by Sam C — 30 Jul 2013

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a brilliant horror movie and is among one of the best in the horror genre for so many reasons. This is one of many Kubrick classics and it deserves to be called a classic because it is one of the best made horror films in the history of film.

I have not read the novel by Stephen King but from what I've heard the movie is nothing like the novel at all, personally I don't think that matters at all because I thought Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson did a magnificent job writing the film's screenplay.

Nowadays you rarely get good writing in horror movies and that's one thing I love about this movie; in this movie you get a good story that gets you invested into the film, interesting characters, and some very good dialogue.

The story to this movie is actually very well though out and it is executed perfectly. I thought that the setup for the story was very well done and that the characters had enough background to the point where you could care about them.

I also loved how this film actually made you think, it's been over a week since I've watched it and I'm still trying to figure it out and thinking about it in my spare time. The scares were also well written and thought out because it's not just that jump scare crap, the scares are actually creepy and get to you.

Part of the creepiness is from Stanley Kubrick's brilliant direction, he did such a masterful job and setting up the scares and the suspenseful sequences. He also did a fantastic job at setting up the shots which were incredible and shot by cinematographer John Alcott.

Kubrick also made the film creepy by using Wendy Carlos's and Rachel Elkind's chilling soundtrack, right when I heard it from the opening title sequence I knew I was in for something great. The performances in this movie are just astonishing; Jack Nicholson just gives one of his many great performances, Shelley Duvall is very believable as Nicholson's wife, and Danny Lloyd gives a very good performance for a kid actor.

In the end The Shining is a terrific horror film by Stanley Kubrick that must be seen if have not seen it already, if you don't see it than I'll come at you with an axe screaming "Here's Sammy!".