i really, really enjoyed saw. which was odd, because even though i loved the premise, i was totally expecting to be let down by it - the hollywood hype and all that.
but it was damn solid. elwes isn't a bad actor, nor was the other guy (!) - which i wasn't expecting - and the suspense built up through the script came to a nice pay-off, i thought.
really, anyone who can keep a movie interesting when it's mainly just two guys in a room is doing pretty damn well. very solid.
also: lostpunk and tech kinetics, i disagree entirely (somewhat

). firstly, tech: i think an enormous part of what made the shining scary was kubrick - the foreboding symmetry in the sets and framing, the enormous, open spaced hotel, the sense of impending doom as the camera followed tracks rather than moving freely - all signs of a great director. generally, i think you're right: horror films are often about their story/script than anything else, but to a) claim, generally, that it has nothing to do with the acting or directing at all and b) say, specifically, that kubrick and nicholson have nothing to do with the shining's quality is pretty farcical. as below, i don't think kubrick's film really resembles the book _all that much_ and thus it *must* be his own creation.
now, onto lostpunk's point - i agree that kubrick's film didn't follow the original book, but i don't think that necessarily makes it invalid. kubrick's film concentrated far more on the intricacies of familial relationships and the role of patriarchy in society, which isn't exactly horror fodder. so, of course, it wasn't quite like the book and thus lost a lot of its horror elements, but i think those losses were balanced out by some of its intellectual gains. and i still love the book to bits too. (i swear we've had this debate before btw. scary deja vu

).