The Shining

Rating:
Summary: THE SHINING - SCARIEST FLICK EVER!
Review: The real villian is the OVERLOOK. The use of the steadicam is amazing as it glides through the magnificent hallways and lounge. Music by Wendy Carlos is very effective.(I swear that during the maze chase at the end they used music from 2001!-listen and you will see what I mean).Best scenes is where Jack is having conversations with the ghostly Lloyd and Grady(who was the caretaker!).Film is full of those classic trademark Kubrick elements(steadicam use, slow pullbacks, etc.)This one is a lot better than that made for tv version which was simply too long.(even though that version was closer to the book)

Rating:
Summary: Play with us, Danny! (Shudders)
Review: I remember watching this with Amelia on HBO one night. She chased me around the room during the credits screaming "REDRUM! REDRUM!" but aside from that...

this movie WILL get to you just like it did Amelia and myself. Jack Nicholson WILL scare you. Shelley Duvall WILL... thorougly annoy you...

just don't expect it to be any better then the book. For those of you rating it lower just because of this, you can't expect any director, whether it be Kubrick or even HITCHCOCK, to make a movie better then a novel written by the master of horror.

Rating:
Summary: Jack Nicholson, You Freak!
Review: This is probably Jacky's best work, that I've seen anyhow. He'll scare you, that's for sure. The little kid was also surprisingly convincing, and good old Shelley Duvall takes a break from Fairy Tale Theater to join us up at the Overlook Hotel. "Danny, come play with us!" chant the girls. Creepy! There's no other way to describe it! I'm shocked I've been able to sleep lately. "There's no Danny here, Mrs. Torrence..." Tony? Is that you? You're not hiding in Danny's stomach? (This will all make sense when you see it, folks.) This is the best horror film I've ever encountered, so dive in. But don't watch it alone in a dark house. I'm warning you...

Rating:
Summary: Best horror movie ever!!!
Review: I'll make it short. This is the ONLY movie that made me have a nightmare after watching it. EVER!

Rating:
Summary: Hereeee's Johnny!
Review: This is one of the only Stephen King films I really like. I love his novels, but most of the films are just...I don't know. The bottom line is that I don't like them. But, I like this. Who can forget it? There are so many memorable scenes that freak you out just thinking about them...The murdered children, the woman in the bathtub, the elevators full of blood, and (of course) the incredible chase scene with Shelly Duvall, Jack Nicholsen, and his ax. There is some cheesy acting, but in this case, it doesn't really matter...this is a pure classic!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent mind entrancing work of pure genius!
Review: I've heard much criticism about this movie not being like the way Stephen King wanted it to be but if anything, kubrick did a fantastic job at making a legacy of a horror movie. From hypnotic visuals-such as bright colors and ghostly twins to a complete documentation of jack's breakdown this movie is really terrifying. In fact I think this is one of the best horror movies i've ever seen.If you ever want to see a REAL horror movie thats not full of teenagers having sex and then being killed by some hockey mask wearing maniac then see the shining.

Rating:
Summary: One of the 2 best horror films ever!
Review: Wow!

That's my lasting impression of Stanley Kubrick's complete Masterpiece of Psychological Terror. I first saw this movie when I was 11 years old(1981). It confused me greatly, but intrigued me at the same time.Jack Nicholson was amazing in a role NO ONE ELSE could have played. Shelley Duvall was miscast and out of her league, but it doesn't really affect the movie that much, because besides Jack, Danny(the young son) Lloyd is unbelievable in what had to be a very difficult role for such a young boy. But the real star of this movie is THE OVERLOOK HOTEL. Kubrick's amazing use of the camera adds to the eerie,isolated and extremely spooky setting. The result is a psychological drama that is, in a word...SURREAL. It is a long movie, but it never gets dull, it keeps you on the edge of your seat with one eerie scene after another. I read this book long after I saw the movie, the book was good, but the movie is better. Kubrick takes King's novel to places that King himself couldn't have dreamed of. A totally hypnotic tour de force by one of history's most underrated directors and genius minds. Next to THE EXORCIST, this is the best horror movie I've ever seen.

Rating:
Summary: Another Kubrick Classic.
Review: Was the book better than the movie? WHO CARES! This movie's got JACK! Seriously, one of the most psychotic performances in screen history. Nicholson WILL scare you, and if he doesn't Kubrick will, with his collection of whacked out special effects and sound effects. Shelley Duvall was perfectly cast as the dullard wife in this movie and the kid, "Danny" gives a chilling performance. This may not be the same as adaptation as King's, but one thing is for sure, the Shining will scare the pants off of you.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible adaptation
Review: Stephen King's The Shining is by far his best novel, imho anyway. I was very disappointed with Kubrick's adaptation, as it changed many of the most important facts of the story. It was especially disappointing, considering his genius adaptation of ACO. Though very beautifully and masterfully done, as a fan of the novel, I have a hard time recommending this film (per)version.

Rating:
Summary: Nowhere Near as Good as the Book!
Review: Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel "The Shining" has become an extremely important part of popular film culture, with many scenes and lines from the movie appearing in all forms of media. However, as an avid reader, I felt this movie was a complete failure as a book adaptation. This movie, in itself, could be seen as a great movie if one has not read King's masterpiece. But after reading the book, one can plainly see how horrible Kubrick's movie truly is. First, the character portrayals were complelty different from the book. Nicholson's Jack Torrance was essentially a mad man from the start, and fails to show the fall from grace that Jack Torrance had in the novel. Shelly Duvall was complelty horrible as Wendy Torrance, portraying a week willed woman completly different than that of the novel. The movie's plot totally altered King's plot, adding things and changing many existsing things, especially the ending, which was far superior in the book. Many critics may say that movies are not supposed to be exact reworks of the book, but essentially Kubrick's version is almost a different story with the same name. The cinematic techniques of Kubrick's movie were excellent, but after reading the book, one can see how lackluster this film truly is.