It's called Shining

What surprises people the most? Typically in horror movies nowadays, jump scares, quick cuts and lots of surprises are what make up a horror/thriller movie. The Shining seems to take it’s time when scaring the living crap out of us. The scariest scenes I found were the ones that seemed to drag on for minutes on end. The use of heavy, ear piercing background music naturally causes the anxiety and stress we feel when scared; but so often nothing bad ever happened. There are scenes of dialogue, for example when Danny is talking to his father in their bedroom when looking for his firetruck. There is no gore, no dead people walking around; just a seemingly psychotic father, his psychic son, and the most intense, stress inducing music you have ever heard in your life. The combination of this type of music, Jack Nicholson’s devil stare, and the audiences high blood pressure levels make for a movie that leaves people in a constant state of fear. It is only when we see our friendly twin girls, or old lady in a bathtub do we really get sent over the edge. Thinking bigger picture, the haunting and ghost appearances don’t immediately follow the Torrence’s arrival at the hotel; rather there is a slow progression that takes place, and continuously grows throughout the whole movie. Contrary to what we usually see in the progression of horror movies, the instances of scary scenes are far more spread out occur far less often. This type of story progression seen in the Shining would not work with most other horror movies, but in this case it is maintained by an impeccable performance by Jack Nicholson. Another great example where Methodical acting can carry an entire film.