The Shining
When i was 12 i came over to my friend’s flat for sleepover, hoping to officially watch full horror movie for the first time. I bet it’s quite universal experience when as a kid you feel that silent flutter in your stomach, hands shaking from anticipation and cheeks flushing from building excitement- it’s almost like stepping into adulthood, you’re reaching for something meant for elders- not just kids like you. So together, pressed against each other, we watched “The Shining”. It’s wasn’t exactly what i expected, there were no big jump scares, no tortures, not that much of physical pain- yet, not really knowing why- the whole movie i felt really uneasy. Shivers running down my spine, sweat on palms, uneven heartbeat. Unfortunately i can’t say i fully understood that movie at that age, but at least i was smart enough to know, it was something worth going back to again and again. I remember that after finishing it, i looked over at my friend sadly noticing she’s not as pleased with the out come as i was. I believe she just expected brutality and pure pill of fear- which honestly, “The Shining” doesn’t guarantee. After going back to my home, telling my parents about how the hang out went and how good the movie was, i started searching more informations about the production- about the director, actors, how shooting went, scenography, whole story that Stephen King wrote… i found myself even obsessed with it. I made school projects about it, i recommended it to all of my friends, watched it over and over again, never getting bored.
Now i’m almost 17 and i can’t tell if it’s objectively the best movie i’ve ever seen or i’m just nostalgic towards it. My younger brother is in similar age as i was back then on the sleepover and tonight i had that pleasure to guide him through same experience. I loved every single little reaction he gave- small gasps, widening eyes, questioning looks. He asked about so many little details, he was just as interested as i wished for him to be. From time to time i stopped the movie to explain the vision or to just throw some small fun facts. It almost felt like i was seeing myself. I loved it. I loved every single second of sitting in that darkness with him and feeling that something more will connect us from now on. I hope someday he’ll ask me once again to watch it and i’ll get to go back one more time to that night when i was only 12- watching first full horror movie not knowing ill never get to forget it.