The Shining – Scariest Movie of ALL TIME
This, according to science, is the Scariest Movie of All Time. I had to go back and watch it again because of course there is going to be controversy and I wanted to be able to defend the outcome. I thought when I was compiling the list that The Exorcist would be number one by a walk. But heeeeeeere’s Johnny! But why? What makes this movie so scary (and not scary)? Well, here’s a list.
- Jack Nicholson’s performance. You could probably just stop here, but I can actually quibble with the beginning of the movie. If you think about what the movie is supposed to be about, Jack should not have been crazy at the beginning. The hotel was supposed to make him crazy. But he was kind of a freak to start with. Even during the interview. If I were Mr. Ullman I would totally have not hired him. Weird creep.
- Steadicam. It might seem dumb now but at the time, following Danny all over the place on his big wheel was a huge deal. The smoothness. The ability to create really long scenes with no cuts. The ability to make the viewer vaguely seasick. All of these things brought to you by the Steadicam.
- Being like the book. Well, other than the basic premise, there were not a lot of details retained from the books. The names? Random bits of dialog. I guess the fact that, at least in my opinion, this is the best novel that Stephen King ever wrote (or maybe the only one) made it a good framework for a scary movie.
- Not being like the book. I suppose that since people think it’s so damn scary tha the axe has to have something to do with it. In the book it wasn’t an axe he was whomping people with. It was a roque (why didn’t he just say croquet?) mallet. So while the shock value of killing people with an Axe is good, he really only killed ONE person with it. Poor Scatman Crothers. He didn’t even die in the book. So instead of smacking people with a hammer for a whole night, he just CHASES people with an axe and all of a sudden that’s more scary? BAH!
- Old lady in the bathtub. She was pretty gross. Not as gross as your mom, but pretty gross.
Now that I think about it – this movie had the creepy twins and Jack Nicholson acting or overacting or something. What the fuck. The Exorcist got so screwed. Stupid Olive Oyl Wendy! Trailer after the jump.
Not what I would have picked, bet eh,, not bad I guess. The book was much more scary. The made for TV movie had a better beginning and no Olive Oyl so there is that. But the crazy wasnt as.. crazy. Eh.. who knows. The Exorcist was much more scary to me, The Ring, Halloween, to name a few, were as well.
I love this movie, cause its a great movie and a good story… but definitely not the scariest one I could think of… I definitely think the Exorcist should have come in at #1.
Jack Nic does a great meltdown and all, but I still don’t see what all the fuss was about this movie. I didn’t think it was all that great… There were a dozen or more movies on this list that were scarier than this one.
If only Kubrick had been allowed to finish AI
I call bullshit, and I’ll explain why…later! Gotta go watch Ghost Hunters now.
I used to watch that show constantly. I even went as a Ghost Hunter for trick or treating with my kids. I wore my TAPS t-shirt and my “Dude, Run” cap. I haven’t watched that show in ages, though. It was getting kinda predictable and disappointing.
Anyway…kinda digressed there.
some spatulas just take each other the “HARD” way.
All work and no play makes Vet a dull girl…all work and no play makes Vet a dull girl…all work and no play makes Vet a dull girl…
If Joey had to put the book in the freezer, I know I will never read it OR see the movie. No way, no how.
That was all I could think of when I first grabbed it. lol Joey got so freaked out. Hilarious episode!
I tried to read the book recently, but I’ve been so busy. The book was good – what I read of it anyway – but not enough hours in a day and all that jazz. Same reason I didn’t watch the movie last night for Halloween. Too busy…work work work….BLAH! I need to make some time to watch this movie. I wanted a good scare last night after the trick or treating.
I 1000% agree with this being #1!!