[redshifter]

slade,
flat acting is a director's trademark of kubrick. he would often do multiple takes of a scene because he disliked when an actor "acted". essentially he would wear out the actor until they were just reciting lines. i think he made crothers do almost 100 takes of the "ice cream scene". one of kubrick's themes dehumanization, and i think he liked emotionless acting and often has scenes of people who appear turned off in his films.

"the shining" is my favorite horror film. the soundtrack is as important as another character in the film, and adds a great deal to the eerie atmosphere. some scenes are almost "mickey moused", which is a term animators use meaning a musical score that follows every move of the actors. the score in "the shining" often mirrors the feelings and actions in the film--just watch the scene where wendy has the bat. the new dolby 5.1 dvd is an absolute "must have" for this reason.

every time i watch "the shining" i find a new level of meaning. recently i discovered in the open matte version the little ghost sisters are always in the exact center of the picture. this is one of the details of the film that first only register in the subconcious, somehow making the girls more frightening than they should be. i also noticed last time the many american indian decorations in the overlook, and the mention of the overlook being built on an indian burial ground. at one point jack mentions the "white man's burden", and his choice of weapons in the end i think mirrors the tomahawk. what kubrick is trying to "say" with these clues is up to the individual viewer. kubrick rarely spells out his meanings.

personally i think the true horror of "the shining" is the emotional and physical abuse of a child and mother from a father. the ghosts are frightening, but the viewer sees from the beginning the true evil within jack existed long before he came to the overlook, since he had hurt his son in a drunken rage before. the scene where jack tells danny he would never hurt him or his mother is perhaps the most chilling scene in the movie.