The Shining. If you were to walk around asking strangers about this movie, the chances are most of them would at least know of it, and those who had seen it would mostly agree–it’s a pretty solid horror movie. Some might even argue that it is the best horror movie, and these people are certainly not a minority, many people who have watched this movie rank it highly among the horror movies they’ve seen. Even now, 44 years later, this movie holds up and continues to terrify new and old audiences alike. Why?

Like all cinema worth watching, Black Swan is an amalgamation of inspirations from the wide world of cinema. Without a doubt, the most notable inspiration comes from one of the most tragically short-lived artists in Japanese cinema, Satoshi Kon, and more specifically, his debut feature film masterpiece Perfect Blue.