I rewatched the Shining last night after not seeing it for maybe 20 years. I ended up really annoyed with it. Horrible overuse of the soundtrack and flashy camera work to the point it kept taking me out of the film. If you're sat there thinking, "oh I like the piece of Penderecki and the way the camera swings round the corner is gorgeous" then you're not absorbed into the film - which is crucial for horror. The way the soundtrack in particular is slavered over the whole film is particularly grating - nothing much is happening in this scene but we need to constantly remind you that this is horror. Woo scary. Woo scary. At one point you used a heartbeat soundtrack Kubrick. You bastard. Why? Just because woo scary (it was that point I snapped). Chanting voices. Is there suddenly a religious subtext maybe? No just woo scary. River of blood - is that an abstract representation of the horror of the hotel's history. Is it hell. No it's just woo scary. Flash up scenes of hacked up bodies. Woo scary. Obligatory twist at the end. Woo scary.
All these techniques are not integrated with the story telling. Kubrick uses Ligeti in 2001 Space Odyssey to give you a sense of the alien, abstract and complex. Here it's just hey "this has some high and low string noises and that's pretty scary isn't it"? It's not used at certain points to communicate the uncommuncatible. It's slavered everywhere. It's an insult to all this classy music he has employed.
And yes its fans will say it has half a dozen subtexts. But how shallow are they? Vague mention of an Indian burial ground not followed up. Something about Danny's ghost friend not followed up. Something about Danny's shining talent that leads nowhere. Domestic violence, bullying? Sure but it doesn't show how it ends up there, Jack Nicholson is pulling scary faces and being dickish from the start. Obsession? What's the obsession even about and why should I care?
So all it is is a descent into madness that's relies on Jack Nicholson pulling and Shelley Duvall pulling faces (yes they're both really, really good at it, but take that away and you are left with nothing). Good horror films have subtext all this has is technique. This film subverts nothing.
It's made me really angry. It felt like an insult to the genre. It's like Kubrick thought "well this is just a horror film, we don't need to worry about characters or subtext or emotions other than fear and anger. I'm going to use my talents to create atmospheric film and hit the audience over the head with it. Easy peasy." Bloody coaster.
It's a shit horror film made well. But it's still a shit horror film.
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Just needed to get that off my chest.
I do like his other films though.