IS THE SHINING THE GREATEST HORROR FILM EVER MADE?
Nope.
That was easy.
It’s certainly one of the best, though it’s hard to consider this or that film the best within a genre.
Is THE SHINING the greatest hypnosis film ever made? Maybe…that would be the reason I’d cite for having become obsessed with it for periods of my life. But I don’t find myself particularly horrified by it.
It is an hour too long and not remotely scary
other than that…
Dennis: almost with you on the “not remotely scary” front….I’d got with: “not overwhelmingly scary”. However, I wish it went on forever. That said, I am undeniably curious to watch the 25-minute shorter UK cut and see what the rhythm of Kubrick’s revised structure is like.
red rum
The “Making of…” footage of Kubrick berating Shelley Duvall is scarier than the actual film. That aside, I think it’s a great movie. Great sense of dread, a lot of creepiness and Nicholson gives a balls-to-the-wall performance!
THE GREATEST HORROR FILM EVER MADE:
“Leni” Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will
RWPIII FTWIII.
haha we can close this one out with song…
Yes, in my opinion. It’s one of the clearest examples of the horror genre as an art film.
“It is an hour too long and not remotely scary”
Have you seen the US or European cut? I recently discovered that the US version is quite longer than the European one. The latter, though shorter, is quite better.
Man, I bought a copy of the European disc, and finally got a region-free player, and the disc is screwed up. Crud. Can’t wait to see it.
The best I’ve seen thus far probably
If not the best, it’s one of them.
Personally, Repulsion is my favorite horror film of all time. But The Shining is easily #2
One of the Top 5. “Psycho” is my #1, though I know many dispute whether it’s official “horror” or not. So, I guess if you disqualify that, “The Shining” is the best.
And I never notice the length when I watch it. I find it that compelling.
Victor Sjostrom’s The phantom Carriage was great, much better than The Shining. Actually, the Here’s Johnny scene (when he breaks the bathroom door with an ax) is a hommage to Sjostrom’s movie. There is much more to horror cinema than american films.
^ I’ll add Zulawski to that, whose two films Diabel and Possession are better than most US horror films and very influential on some cult favorites.
I’m a fan of The Shining, as with all Kubrick’s work. I think it’s excellent, but I just cringe when anyone says, “IS THIS THE BEST THING EVAR?” since, who owns that? No one but the person who asks it. It’s a ridiculous thing to contemplate, since everyone’s opinion on ‘best’ is completely subjective and valid.
The more productive thing to do would be to trace the influencers and influences of The Shining, or to compare/contrast that film with something like Martyrs.
I discovered The Shining makes an excessive use of symmetric shots, it perhaps had a special meaning for Kubrick, since I don’t remember that same excess in any of his other films I’ve watched.
Nice image, and a good example of the portaling effect the film’s compositions repeatedly creates. The 1:33 version of the film really shows off the scale of the symmetry better, and I’ve always preferred it. But that’s an entire other can of worms.
But…where in God’s name did you find triplets?
I think that should be ranked somewhere the top 5 of greatest horror movies.
Ah, the triplets…
I was writing an article with a section about symmetry, and I used The Shining as an example and I was just wondering how it would look if there were three girls and not two. It was a simple edition in Paint.
Yes, it is.
Alien is my favorite horror film, though The Shining comes in close second!
Uh-oh . . . I can’t find my way out of this thread!
The Shining I think is in the top ten, but personally The Exorcist is the greatest horror film.
Not my personal favorite but I think that Texas Chainsaw Massacre would have to be the #1 Horror of all time, just because of the scare factor.
My favorites are Exorcist, Poltergeist and Halloween
moodsta70
i think so.