One of my favourite films let alone my favourite horror film. The acting is faultless and Kyubrick's version is spot on. Yes, portions of the film are different from the book but look at the awful Stephen King adaptation, that was boring as hell. What works for a book doesn't always translate to the screen. Just as good as the book and PLEASE do not watch the US version, yes it's longer but it ruins the atmosphere and it actually drags. You get more back story but it doesn't add anything, the UK cut is far far superior.

The first thing you need to remember when watching this film is that it was never claimed to be a 100% loyal adaptation of the book.
Despite this, as a result of reading King's great novel first, I found myself concentrating on the missing parts and altered sequence of events instead of concentrating on Kubrick's own personal inputs; which were often enjoyable. I found the climax of the film to be the most accurate part.

The only thing that I would particularly criticise, was that the family relationships between Jack, Wendy and Danny were not as well established as in the book; which gave this aspect of the film a somewhat shallow feel.

As far as acting goes...Jack Nicholson gives a great portrayal of Jack Torrance that really captures his character, however I found Shelley Duvall's (Wendy) performance quite dissapointing.

Overall, a good film; although possibly a better experience if you hadn't read the book first.

In response to the below query as to why the UK gets the shorter version of The Shining - that's the version Warner Bros has the rights for in the UK, hence that's the version we're getting. Additionally, this shorter version was prepared by Stanley Kubrick himself after the longer version had played overseas, and it was apparently his preferred cut of the movie. So this is actually the Director's Cut, irrespective of length.