Stanley Kubrick's underrated chiller, adapted from Stephen King's novel, is one of those films that makes you check under the bed to see there's no-one there after you've finished watching it - especially if you imagine Jack Nicholson and his axe could be after you. This is grim and grisly ghost-story telling with a vengeance, as Nicholson, his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd), who is endowed with extra-sensory perception (the 'shining' of the title) take on the caretakership of a Rocky Mountain hotel for the winter. Somewhere in the past a previous caretaker has gone berserk and axed his wife and daughters to death, and it isn't long before the house is exercising an evil influence on Nicholson. His language becomes foul, he works like a demon and starts consorting with the ghosts that infest the hotel. Kubrick paces the symphony of horror with masterly precision, using tracking cameras to heighten the fright and emphasise the terror of a pursued victim. Nicholson has a wonderful time, while Duvall registers a fine line in hysteria. You shouldn't really see it alone.