Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is a movie that lives in its own special sphere. Simply put, I think it may be the most fascinating horror film ever made…that’s not scary. The most fascinating horror film ever made that is scary is “Psycho”; that’s because it’s the ultimate film to watch yourself watching. And let’s be clear: I realize that “The Shining” is widely considered to be a terrifying movie. But I saw it the night it opened — on May 23, 1980 — and have seen it a dozen times since, and while the film’s mood and mysteries have deepened for me, to the point that I find it a uniquely seductive piece of cinema, I have always had the same problem with it, going back to that very first viewing.

In “The Shining,” we watch an enormous metaphysical puzzle from the dark side, a ghost story...