Stanley Kubrick is one of the great directors of all time. What is my reasoning for this statement? Well, only a great director would be able to make one of the funniest films of all time (Dr. Strangelove) as well as one of the scariest films of all time, which is todays recommendation The Shining.
The Shining follows a husband, wife and young son as they stay at an isolated hotel for the winter when all kinds of spiritual and psychological hell breaks loose.
If you are new to Kubrick and have never seen a Kubrick film, The Shining is a good starting place as it has all of the key Kubrick elements including haunting bright images that are both beautiful and frighteningly bazaar.
The perfromances in the film are fantastic. The film is most known for Jack Nicholson's crazed performance, but the one performance that really impressed me was given by Shelley Duvall who plays a strong yet terrified mother and wife who is just trying to keep a grasp on all that is going on. She always seemed to be surrounded by a fog of tension and was on edge more often than not, which was aided by the fact that Kubrick would scream at her for the tiniest thing (something he did to keep her on edge).
The Shining is the best adaptation of a horror novel by Steven King and is the type of horror film that will stick with you for a long time after you watch it and will probably make you want to shower after.
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