It's unbelievable how bland Stanley Kubrick's Shining is in comparison to Rob Reiner's Misery. And that's definitely not only because of the terrific Kathy Bates. Maybe it's the story line which is so one-dimensional and predictable. I mean there is this diffuse frightening suspense in almost every scene but somehow this movie does not grip me at all.

What an unconvincing combination evoking pure cliché: Nicholson the psychopathic monster, his wife in the film a hysteric (which actually seems realistic given the circumstances) and their kid gifted with the shining, a capability of communicating telepathically. Near the end I wished that Nicholson would have smashed his wife's skull with the axe just to finish off this tedious nightmare of a film. I must admit though that this scene on the stairs where she swings that bat when Jack approaches her with his axe made me laugh out loud. In any case now I am even surer that I will never ever read a book by Stephen King in my life.