The Shining (1980) Review
When I think of this movie I think of two things. One, the fact that agoraphobia, the opposite of claustrophobia, can and does exist. Two: this metaphorical, if not spiritual, torch that has been passed down from one horror movie to another. While each horror movie can’t really extinguish it as good horror movies are possible when done right it can still change its size and color. If The Exorcist has always held a large, aggressively fiery yellow-orange to represent how visceral it is on many levels then the Shinning is more of a normal sized dark blood red flame that represents a slower building type of horror that leaves you with this nagging dread all throughout. That’s certainly how I remembered The Shinning when I first saw it: a mature type of scary that takes its time to let these emotions sink in before finally bringing them up in the climax. It’s almost impossible to give a review of this movie at this point without reiterating what I said in my review of Dr. Sleep. But what I can say, however, is that Dr. Sleep, combined with The Shinning, feels like Muschietti’s It Chapters 1 and 2 done better: A good adaptation of a good Stephen King book (despite Mr. King’s contrary sentiments towards Kubrick’s version) that separates the original horrific events from one part with another after enough decades had passed between the two.