THE SHINING (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel about the Torrance family's headlong plunge into insanity during a secluded Colorado winter remains better known for its T-shirt quotables (''Heeeere's Johnny!'' ''All work and no play make Jack a dull boy'') than as a beautiful and pleasing horror film. It's a shame. With a haunting score, luscious, near-eternal Steadicam shots, and Jack Nicholson's grand pirouette into murderous madness at its heart, it's one of the most artful horror films in history. Not everyone, of course, thinks so. King was famously put off by the adaptation, remarking, ''I think [Kubrick] wants to hurt people with this movie.'' (He made his own six-hour TV version in 1997.)
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