“The Shining” Review

Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of “The Shining” has gone down as one of the most terrifying horror films ever made.

Despite my absolute love for horror, it’s easy to pick my personal favorite horror film because there’s only one obvious choice. That choice is Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” which has stood the test of time to become one of the most cinematically pleasing horror films ever shot.

The film takes place at the luxurious Overlook Hotel in the mountains of Colorado where a writer named Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) has been hired to take care of the hotel during the winter with his wife Wendy and young son Danny (Shelly Duvall and Danny Lloyd). When the family is snowbound and truly isolated, the supernatural spirits inside of the hotel come out to play and Jack is pushed more and more to insanity.

Although “The Shining” is well-regarded among critics and audiences alike, the film was originally met with hostility upon release. Both filmgoers and critics didn’t know what to make of the film and its symbolism while Stephen King, author of the source material, famously denounced Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation because of how different it was from the source material. 

Both Shelly Duvall and Kubrick were nominated for Razzies for Worst Actress and Worst Director and the thought of Kubrick being nominated for a Razzie is insane. Thankfully, subsequent rewatchings and a reappraisal have given it the status it deserves because the entirety of this film is a masterpiece.

All three main actors are incredible in their performances, especially Nicholson who is allowed to go completely off the rails as his character descends into madness. Throughout most of the film, he’s like a time bomb just waiting to go off which is understandable since he’s a recovering alcoholic. When he does go insane, Nicholson walks a fine line between hilarious and terrifying and he always falls into the latter category.

Shelly Duvall also delivers an incredibly vulnerable performance which is due, in part, to her horrible treatment by director Stanley Kubrick on set. Kubrick would argue with Duvall and isolate her from the rest of the crew which led to Duvall’s hair falling out. At one point Kubrick shot the scene where Duvall is walking up the stairs, swinging a baseball bat, 127 times which still holds the Guinness World Record for most retakes of a film scene. 

Some claim that this behavior was the result of a tyrannical madman while others claim that Kubrick intentionally behaved this way to get Duvall into the proper mood for the role. Either way, Duvall gives a performance resembling a broken down woman who’s barely keeping it together. 

Shelly Duvall’s emotionally crippled performance as Wendy Torrance has been praised in recent years, but the methods Kubrick used to get the performance, by treating her horribly, have been criticized.

Danny Lloyd was actually unaware that he was making a horror film while filming was occurring. He actually thought he was in a drama about a family living inside of a hotel, which makes sense because he was less than ten when the film was being made. While Lloyd might not have known the true nature of the story, his performance makes it impossible to tell. 

In the film, Danny is psychic with his power simply known as “shining.” Unable to quite understand it, Danny’s power manifests as an imaginary friend named “Tony” which Danny makes speak by moving his finger. This performance is the perfect balance of creepy and innocent because, while “Tony” is a chilling presence, Danny still maintains the perspective of a child introduced to pure terror.

Scatman Crothers’ performance as Dick Hallorann also adds a sense of realism to the film because of his connection to Danny. Both Dick and Danny have the same power and Dick’s explanation of what the “shining” is and the dangers of the hotel. When you read the book, the nature of what the “shining” is delved into a lot more but, in the film, it’s smartly left in the shadows. All we need to know is that it allows Danny to see future events and the ghosts of the hotel and that is conveyed well by Crothers.

When it comes to my favorite director of all time, that honor has to go to Stanley Kubrick and his work on “The Shining” adds to that title. His meticulous perfectionism is the stuff of legend and his entire goal throughout the film is to create dread within the viewer. From the very first shot, there is a sense of horror as the camera glides over mountains and follows Jack’s car as he drives to the Overlook for his job interview.

Kubrick is the master of cinematic hypnosis which can be seen in films like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Eyes Wide Shut.” When you see Kubrick films, he takes you into a deep trance and captivates you with his filmmaking. In “The Shining,” Kubrick accomplished this with his first use of Steadicam which allowed him to quickly move the camera in smooth, unbroken shots. 

When Danny is riding his Big Wheel throughout the Overlook’ hallways, the camera is right behind him and the audience becomes entranced by the smooth shot and the quiet of the hallway with Danny’s Big Wheel being the only source of noise. This makes some of the scares even more intense such as the famous scene in the hallway with the Grady Twins. 

It’s not exactly a jump scare because it doesn’t feel cheap or insulting like most jump scares. Instead, it breaks the trance established by Kubrick which is scary in its own right.

The entire film is drenched in a horrifying atmosphere and one of the contributors is the score which, besides the main theme heard in the opening, is mainly composed of surreal sounds and melodies. The noises can greatly increase the tension of scenes and this is apparent in the climax of the film.

The Overlook Hotel itself is a very formidable location due to its design and layout. While the Timberline Lodge in Oregon was used for exterior shots, most of the interior shots were done on sets. People who’ve analyzed the film have remarked that, based on the shots and locations of windows and doors, the hotel’s layout isn’t structurally possible. This adds to the unsettling nature of the film and subconsciously sucks the audience further into this environment.

When people think of horror films like “The Shining” and “The Exorcist” without seeing them, they assume that it will be full of scares like more modern horror films. However, that is not the case because “The Shining” is more of a slow burn and the suspense keeps building upon itself. 

My favorite kinds of horror films are more about atmosphere and slowly building tension instead of cheap jump scares. The problem with jump scare heavy films is that they only scare you once or twice. Films like “Alien,” “Halloween,” “The Conjuring” and especially “The Shining” rely more on atmosphere and developing characters which is why this film has lasted for so long.

If there’s anything about “The Shining” that is contested more amongst fans, it’s the film’s meaning. There’s a fascinating documentary called “Room 237” which is about the obsession some fans have with this film and all of the theories that have been made about the film. 

Many theories have arose over the years as to what Stanley Kubrick (Right) was trying to convey with “The Shining’s” meaning.

Theories include that Kubrick was making a commentary on Native American genocide, the Holocaust and the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. The latter theory is fascinating because there are people who not only believe that the moon landing was faked but, since he won an Oscar for the visual effects in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Kubrick directed it and let us know in “The Shining. 

This includes Danny wearing an Apollo 11 sweater and the room with the dead woman, room 217 in the book, changed to room 237 in the film to represent the 237,000 miles from the Earth to the Moon. I personally find many of these theories ludicrous, although I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t fascinated by them.

My personal theory about the film relates to the photograph at the end of the film where we see Jack Torrance in an old photograph at the Overlook in 1927. I think that Jack Torrance is the reincarnation of someone from the Overlook and that the Overlook somehow has called him back to reclaim him. This explains Jack saying that, when he first entered the hotel, he felt like he’d been there before. It also explains what Grady meant when he said to Jack, “You’ve always been the caretaker.”

I watch this film multiple times per year, especially around Halloween, for a reason. Everytime I watch this film, I am transported by Kubrick’s direction and the film’s horrifying atmosphere. It’s the greatest horror film of all time and nothing, for the time being, can take that away.