The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick; screenplay by
Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson, based on the novel by Stephen King)
Not if you look at it as author Stephen King intended,
as just another snoozeville haunted house story; a decently-written, more
populist rehash of ground better covered by Shirley Jackson, Robert Bloch and
Richard Matheson.
When this film was released in 1980, despite its being
unbearably tense when first seen in a theater,
I was one of those knuckleheads who was
“disappointed.”
A maladjusted and obdurate teenage creep, I was
burning through Stephen King’s books, practically worshiping the man at the
time (now, I simply respect him), and Stanley Kubrick’s changes annoyed me.
Boy, was I stupid!
Ignorant of film history at the time, I failed to see
Big Stan’s grand adventure to rearrange the genre to suit his needs!