The Shining [DVD]

This is one of my top ten favourite movies of all time. It's based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, but differs a little from the novel (and Stephen King classically detested this movie) directed by the late Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick is an expert at slowly creating a sense of dread and claustrophobia. The film is about a young boy of about 5 or 6 with psychic abilities who is taken to a closed hotel ("The Overlook") for the winter by his parents so his unemployed writer father Jack can write his great American novel in peace and quiet. Little do young Danny's parents know that the Overlook is a magnet for malicious, dark forces with an insatiable blood lust which manifests itself by driving sensitive people to madness and violence. Jack already has a history of alcoholic rages (including dislocating his little son's shoulder in a fit of rage) and is a prime target for the spirits of the place to play with... but as Jack begins to slowly unravel and Danny's distraught, overwhelmed mother Wendy sinks into a pit of fear and uneasy disbelief, little Danny himself is haunted by grotesque visions of past murders and debauchery... alone with his fear and childish innocence, Danny is completely unprepared for the horrors the Overlook has in store for him, including the insatiably curious ghosts of a previous caretaker's little girls who are damned to walk the halls of the Overlook for all time seeking new playmates. Kubrick's innate understanding of the human mind and what makes eerie things eerie, his use of the steadicam for the long, unbroken, sinister hallway shots and an equally nightmarish soundtrack (including Dies Irae in the opening aerial shots) makes "The Shining" a deeply-unsettling psychological nightmare that will stick with you long after the final credits roll. If you want lots of jump scares, cheesy monsters and unnecessary gore, though, you should look elsewhere.