Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Stanley Kubricks The Shining is regularly cited as as one of the most iconic films ever made, and its true that the picture is plentiful in famous moments: Heres Johnny; Red Rum; the flood of blood pouring out of the elevator; All work and no play make Jack a dull boy; the closing shot of the picture of the staff at the Overlook hotel, which confounds our comprehension of the ending. Put those aside, and the film is still a masterpiece in claustrophobic, psychopathic horror, though, if even Stephen King was thoroughly unhappy with the finished product. The film does, for the most part, strip the story of it's ghosts and ghouls (which are the reason for Jack's descent into madness in the book), but by presenting Jack's insanity as a byproduct of cabin-fever, Kubrick renders the film much more frightening, making the horror something a little-closer to home, something a little more believable. Helmed by Jack Nicholson in his craziest mode - and Shelley Winters in her most fraught - The Shining is a cold, austere horror classic.
