Watched this movie when I was 13 or something. Bored the crap outta me and now watched it as an adult. Still boring.
How is this considered a good horror movie? At no point, I found it scary. So bad it's somewhat funny? No.
If you’re bored by The Shining then the conclusion is not that there is something wrong with The Shining, but that there’s something wrong with you.
Now, the one point you make that has a degree of validity is the one about it being a ‘horror movie’ and whether it’s ‘scary’. While it’s based on a horror novel, Kubrick’s goal is not to make you jump out of your skin for the sake of it or provide any of the cheap scares, gratuitous shocks, fear-porn and splatter one expects from the horror movie genre.
Instead, he’s using the genre, and indeed King’s book, to ruminate on the idea of cycles of abuse. You’re watching a dysfunctional family headed by an alcoholic with a temper problem gradually disintegrate as they spend time in a place which itself carries the trauma of abuse - an Indian burial ground which was forcibly desecrated so that a hotel could be built atop it.
The negative energy manifests as malevolent ghosts born of violence, who now encourage Jack to perpetuate violence against his family.
Most of the film is spent bathing in a twisted atmosphere - a sense of menace thrumming underneath a family which appears unnervingly inauthentic. They outwardly speak and behave as if they’re a picture perfect 50’s family, but Jack is clearly keeping a lid on his bubbling resentment, Wendy is in denial about who she has married, and Danny is a sensitive soul, displacing his trauma into ‘Tony’.
Then, the maddening isolation combined with the ancient demonic forces in the walls of The Overlook turn Jack into an axe wielding maniac bent on butchering his wife and child. By this point in the film genre fans should be getting what they want - bloody murder, Wendy screaming as Jack slowly hacks his way into the bathroom, creepy ghosts (including Blowbear and Rotting Bath Hag).
Kubrick films are meditations on ideas about the human condition that use genres as a Trojan horse.
So… I suggest you try rewatching The Shining bearing what I’ve said in mind and at least try to appreciate it even if you can’t enjoy it. I would also suggest looking at what things in your life might have rotted your attention span to the point that you can’t enjoy a movie by a great filmmaker, starring a great actor, based on a great horror novel, and which is often considered the greatest horror film ever made.
I was bored with the film as a kid, and even more so as an adult. I do enjoy the novel very much though.
But as it turns out, I'm not a huge fan of Kubrick. I'm a fan of some of his techniques and he really knows how to frame a shot. But I just don't care that much for his films. Maybe the same goes for OP? But no, let's just take the piss out of him because his taste differs from yours.
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Yeah, they should so definitely do a remake with Dwayne Johnson, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
shareAwww, look at the wickle baby who doesn't appreciate an atmospheric horror movie that everyone else in the world likes, and if they DON'T, then they're MORONS.
Go back to your stupid brainless slasher movies, OP!
How is this considered a good horror movie?
I also saw it between 10-12 years old. The twins randomly appearing early on and then showing up in the hallway creeped the shit out of me big time. To this day I’m still amazed that two girls simply standing in a hallway could creep me out that bad and that Kubrick knew it would creep people out. I’d been scared by normal horror by that point but not by anything like this. The man-bear-dog scene as well.
shareWhat would I have done if you didn't post this? Thanks! Now my day is complete.
shareBut not nearly as bored as I am reading this thread.
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