The Shining

I may be strange, but I tried to read King's book three times, and I always put it down about 100 pages. I didn't like it. But the film immediately got to me through its suggestive atmosphere of creeping terror, in which Jack Nicholson's masterful performance plays a big part. He plays Jack Torrance like a harp, first quietly with all the dark undertones, and then suddenly he starts to yank on all the strings. Jack's transformation into a monster is gradual, and he's basically "making" this film. Kubrick admirably managed to create fear without darkness and cramped spaces. The fear of The Shining is an airy, light, spacious fear... And that's absolutely unique. The film also feels authentic because the evil seems to have no source – is it "from inside" Jack, or is it evil embodied in the genius loci? Is Jack's madness really just the work of his bruised psyche? The viewer is stuck in the same uncertainty as the main heroes of the film - it is difficult to determine the distribution of forces between reality and the supernatural. But everything only leads to one thing... REDRUM... did it also give you goose bumps? (30/01/2004)

I'm sure I'd have liked it a lot more if I didn't have to watch it in two parts (after about an hour of watching it, my roommate couldn't take it and we had to turn it off and put on HIMYM); the next day the atmosphere was gone, so I kind of thought about it, rolled my eyes, and gave it 5 stars. But maybe it wasn't really there after all, it just ended in kind of a lackluster way, and at the exact moment the black guy called, I told myself he was going to go there and get slaughtered. Yup, and that’s exactly how it turned out... I would have given it the 4 stars for the psycho music, for Jack, who at the beginning looked like he was from the Bohnice Insane Asylum, and for that bloody hallway, but as I mentioned I closed one eye (and plugged up one nostril, but you don't need to know that) and was giving it the damn 5 stars. I guess it's because I live over a cat cemetery. Nah – I opened my eyes, looked again, and it's still just 4 stars. (18/01/2011)

A classic of the horror genre that hasn't aged and is an example of the director's creative approach to the literary source material. Kubrick had an exceptional talent for creating impressive visuals and working with actors, which, in combination with the screenplay, created a disturbing work with an atmosphere that is rarely seen in the genre today. Scenes such as the wildly moving toy car on the red carpet or the chase in the garden maze are etched in my memory forever. This was one of Jack Nicholson's best roles, perfectly portraying the gradual breakdown of the main character's personality. His loss of self-confidence as the family provider is gradually replaced by increasingly aggressive dominance, culminating in a horrifying finale. The final camera shot of the framed photograph on the wall is a clever touch that will please horror fans. The scenery of the monumental hotel complex set in an isolated mountain environment also plays an irreplaceable role. Overall impression: 95%. Interestingly, the author of the book, Stephen King, was not completely satisfied with the tone of this film, despite it being one of the best adaptations of his work. It seems that he was disappointed that he did not receive his usual minor role. (04/12/2007)

The excellent minimalist soundtrack couldn't be better, and some scenes, especially the bathroom scene and the boy's vision of dismembered children in the hotel corridor, are truly horrifying, but I still have some reservations. Jack Nicholson, as excellent as he is, overacts disgustingly in some scenes; if that's the director's intention, I didn't quite get it. And Shelley Duvall, as she runs around the hotel with a knife in her hand, tries to play scared, but you can see in her face that she's not very good at it. But these are just tiny blemishes on the beauty of the whole. (11/11/2003)

Incredibly chilling. When you watch one of today’s would-be horrors, you can’t not be shocked at what’s happened. Fear doesn’t come from cheap surprises, but from the stifling atmosphere that pushes the hero over the brink of madness. Is it the filmmakers or the viewers who are to blame? The drive-bys on the tricycle and the visit to room no. 237 are terrifying in their very essence (loneliness, vulnerability) and not because a ghoul jumps out at you. Nicholson is great, a little weird right from the beginning, but still sufficiently natural. The wife in her simplicity is “normal" most of the time, but visually looks very strange, to say the least. Unlike in the book, Danny is demoted from the main role to child medium full of fear, but paradoxically it didn’t bother me much. It works perfectly in Kubrick’s hands. The blood in the elevator is super, the finale in the maze excellently executed. Maybe better than with the boiler. (10/05/2016)