Total Scifi Online has put out a list of the 100 Greatest Horror Movies Ever. There's a lot of lists like this going around as Halloween nears. To my surprise, The Shining was listed as the Greatest Horror Movie ever..
Interesting, since I recently watched the Shining and noted how much I really did like the film. But is it the Greatest? It didn't just "make" the list -- it topped the list! That means it beat out Psycho, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs and Bride of Frankenstein.
.Total Scifi Online writes:
"Perfectionist auteur Stanley Kubrick seemed an unlikely choice to adapt Stephen King’s pulp novel, yet the result was this towering horror masterpiece. Though King wasn’t satisfied with the result, Kubrick skilfully turned the story of a hotel caretaker slowly cracking up into an opulent study of isolation, madness and paranoia. It’s full of iconic moments, including the spooky twin girls in the hotel corridor and Danny’s mutterings about ‘Red Rum’, and Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances as the struggling author who lurches from caring family man into axe-wielding psycho."
."Perfectionist auteur Stanley Kubrick seemed an unlikely choice to adapt Stephen King’s pulp novel, yet the result was this towering horror masterpiece. Though King wasn’t satisfied with the result, Kubrick skilfully turned the story of a hotel caretaker slowly cracking up into an opulent study of isolation, madness and paranoia. It’s full of iconic moments, including the spooky twin girls in the hotel corridor and Danny’s mutterings about ‘Red Rum’, and Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances as the struggling author who lurches from caring family man into axe-wielding psycho."
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Also on the list were:
.Carrie, #33
Misery, #63
Salems' Lot, #88
.I've never seen the 1979 version of Salem's Lot.
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I will note that there is a LOT of interest in the Shining and the Stanley Hotel at this time of year. But what exactly makes Kubrick's telling of The Shining so powerful? Well, frankly, I don't think it's better than others on the list. That's the danger, of course, in actually ranking the list. The Shining is not better than The Sixth Sense. Though, it is much better than Blair Witch Project and Saw.
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HEY! Why is Maximum Overdrive not on the list?
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Halloween at the Stanley Hotel: http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-at-stanley-hotel.html
My review of the Shining: http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2009/09/stanley-kubricks-shining.html
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