Kubrick takes King's fantastic book, and builds on it, bringing the story to life in his own inimitable way. It's dark, it's bleak, it's terrifying, a masterpiece in storytelling. You watch as the central character's mental collapse is played out in a spine chilling fashion.

What is the point behind The Shining?

Speaking about the theme of the film, Kubrick stated that "there's something inherently wrong with the human personality. There's an evil side to it. One of the things that horror stories can do is to show us the archetypes of the unconscious; we can see the dark side without having to confront it directly".

Why is The Shining novel so good?

Though there is more to The Shining than your average haunted house story, there is no denying that The Overlook is definitely a character in its own right, with its own moods and feelings and desires, a fact which makes it all the more terrifying.

What is the message of The Shining?

Stephen King's The Shining focuses on families and the way various forms of dysfunction—such as jealousy, insanity, abuse, and addiction—can rip them apart. At the center of the novel is the Torrance family—Jack, Wendy, and Danny—and they are fighting considerable odds.

What makes The Shining so terrifying?

The very fabric of what makes this film so scary is the dread and vagueness that it feeds on to propel the story forward. The foreboding that aches in every corner of this film is the very reason so many people, for decades have hailed 'The Shining' as one of the scariest films of all time.

Why The Shining Is the Greatest Horror Film of All Time

Was The Shining hated when it came out?

Still, The Shining went on to become one of the greatest movies ever, and it has made way for countless interpretations of the story, the characters, and the “hidden messages” left by Kubrick, but the legacy of The Shining hasn't always been positive, and when it was released, it received mixed reviews, a lot of ...

Why does Jack say Heres Johnny?

Moments later, he would improvise the “Here's Johnny!” line, which was a reference to the intro of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Interestingly, Kubrick originally shot the scene with a fake door, but Nicholson – who once trained as a fire marshal – chopped it down too quickly.

What do the twin girls in The Shining represent?

So on one level the twins represent Danny, perhaps accompanied by his imaginary friend. Rather than seeing the past, he is anticipating his own potential murder / abuse. He also saw the twins in his first shining vision, while looking into a mirror.

What happened to Danny in room 237 in The Shining?

Some fans seem to think that room 237 was actually the room the Torrance's were staying in, and that when Danny was playing near the outside of the room, he accidentally woke up his father who then beat him.

What does the ending scene of The Shining mean?

The ending of The Shining, particularly the photo of Jack in the 1921 ballroom, suggests that Jack is a reincarnation of a former hotel employee, although this explanation is not explicitly stated in the film. The Shining explores themes of cyclical violence and abuse, and Kubrick's film is full...

Is The Shining based on a true story?

Many elements in The Shining, including the hotel itself, were inspired by the Stanley Hotel in Colorado. While The Shining true story doesn't involve a man named Jack Torrance losing his mind and killing his family, the locale of the book and Stanley Kubrick's movie do have a real-life counterpart.

Does Stephen King like The Shining?

Despite its widespread praise, King famously despised Kubrick's adaptation of his book, so much so that he called it “a maddening, perverse, and disappointing film,” likening it to “a great big beautiful Cadillac with no motor inside,” eventually remaking the adaptation himself into a teleplay to finally “correct” ...

Why did Jack go insane in The Shining?

The family has to care for the hotel for the winter, but they cannot leave the mountainous area. In this isolation every day becomes the same for Jack as his writer's block becomes quotidian. The combination of isolation, monotony, creative frustration, and supernatural forces extract Jack's insanity.

Was Jack always the caretaker?

As such, Grady has always been the butler, just as Jack has always been the caretaker insofar as they were both imprisoned in the future by the hotel, and their spirits became anachronistically part of history.

Who was the lady in Room 237?

The woman in King's novel is Lorraine Massey, who used to seduce bellboys and engage in sexual acts with them. Lorraine was the wife of a prominent New York lawyer, but during her stay at the Overlook, she was with a younger man.

Can someone explain The Shining to me?

The Shining's Real Meaning

Of course, there are some more convincing (and coherent) than others, but The Shining is explained as, at its core, a story about violence and abuse and how these are often cyclical. Jack had a history of anger issues and violence, mainly against his family.

Why did the Overlook want Danny?

In the novel, Danny is the Overlook's primary victim, and Jack Torrance is simply used as a conduit to get to Danny. The hotel wants Danny dead so that it can absorb his “shining” ability to add to the Overlook's plethora of dark energies, so it possesses Jack in his vulnerable state to try to kill Danny.

Who was the killer in The Shining?

He is informed by the hotel manager that the previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, killed his entire family inside the hotel. Specifically, Grady “murdered the little girls with a hatchet, his wife with a shotgun, and himself the same way.” As Jack later learns, the Overlook has a long and ghastly history.

What did the Grady twins do?

It's likely that the twins, despite their sinister appearance, are trying to help Danny. After all, it's explained that they were killed after trying to burn down the Overlook; the girls were aware of the hotel's dark power and tried to put an end to it.

Who is the girl in the bathtub in The Shining?

Lia Beldam: Young Woman in Bath

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What is the famous line in The Shining?

Everyone who has seen The Shining knows the iconic "Redrum!" line as the most popular catchphrase from the film.

Why was Jack in the photo at the end of The Shining?

That decline itself is also central to the narrative of the film, and Jack's appearance in the photograph symbolises his loss of identity. No longer is he Jack Torrance, the father, husband and author; he's now become a ghost, a thing of the part, a supernatural force of evil capable of transcending space and time.

Was Jack drunk in The Shining?

It's made very clear from the beginning that he was a drunk and a violent husband and father. He seems to go to the closed down hotel in hopes to get sober, since there's no booze at the hotel when it's closed. However.. We also see how cold he treats his family during the ride up to the hotel.

Why did Stephen King dislike The Shining?

The author complained that Nicholson's version of the character was observably crazy from the beginning and he just gets worse as the film goes on. "Jack Torrance has no arc in that movie," King told Deadline. King also disliked what Kubrick did to the character of Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall.

Why did Stephen hate The Shining?

King initially had mixed thoughts about the film, praising aspects like its visuals, but has become more critical of it over time. King's main criticisms of the film revolve around the lack of character development for Jack Torrance and the portrayal of Wendy Torrance.