The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name, by Stephen King, about a writer with a wife and young son who accepts the job of an off-season caretaker at an isolated hotel. The son, who possesses psychic abilities, is able to see things in the future and past, such as the ghosts in the hotel. Soon after moving in, and after a paralyzing winter storm that leaves the family snowed in, the father becomes influenced by the supernatural presence in the haunted hotel; he descends into madness and attempts to murder his wife and son.

Unlike most films by Stanley Kubrick, which saw a slow gradual release building on word-of-mouth, The Shining was released in a manner more like a mass-market film, opening at first in just two cities on Memorial Day, and then a month later seeing a nationwide release (including drive-ins) after extensive television advertising. Although initial response to the film was mixed, later critical assessment had been more favorable and it is now viewed as a classic of the horror genre. Film director Martin Scorsese, writing in The Daily Beast, ranked it as one of the best horror films. Film critics, film students, and Kubrick's producer, Jan Harlan, have all remarked on the enormous influence the film has had on popular culture which ranges from other macabre thrillers to the cartoon series The Simpsons.

After Clockwork Orange this is my favorite Kubrick film ( then Dr.Strangelove )

Actually, I did think that Duvall was really bad.

Oh and the movie did NOT make justice to the book.

I wouldn't say it didn't do it justice, they are just completely different.

The film is far more frightening than the book, in my opinion.

But why call itself The Shining? You could say it's a stand-alone film that stole an idea and made something else out of it. The intentiuons of the book are not reflected in the film, neither are the characters.

I'd say there are enough similarities to justify calling it an adaptation.

A crappy adaptation then. I am not saying that a good adaptation needs to film the book page by page. A great example is American Psycho which plot-wise s not that close to the novel, but completely captures the spirit of the book. The Shining doesn't.

I'm not trying to say it was a great adaptation. Clearly that would be misleading because of how different the film and novel are. However, as a horror novel, I feel like it's job was to scare you. The film did capture that aspect perfectly. In that regard, they are similar. Also, the basic backbone of the novel is there - alcoholic caretaker takes family to remote hotel that is haunted.

Lecter, do you think the 1997 remake is the better film simply because it follows the source material more closely?