One of the great aspects of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary career is the oft-forgotten fact that he dabbled in so many genres. Historical epics, war movies, Science Fiction… all of these got the Kubrick treatment. One of his greatest achievements was his foray into Horror when he gave us THE SHINING, which is, to this day, the very best movie ever based on a Stephen King novel.
THE SHINING tells the story of the Torrance family. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) has been given the job of off-season caretaker of the Overlook hotel in the mountains of Colorado. He moves his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) into the hotel for the winter as the rest of the staff and management leave for the season. Shortly thereafter, strange things begin to happen around the family, and Jack becomes increasingly withdrawn and ill-tempered. As Jack begins to succumb to the evil in the hotel and in his own mind, he turns all of the focus of this evil on Wendy and Danny.
No creepy mansion or dilapidated hospital here. THE SHINING is a haunted house movie that takes place in a charming, inviting mountain resort hotel - showing us that evil can lurk in the most brightly lit and welcoming of places. As the Torrance family settles into the Overlook Hotel, Kubrick floats his camera around the large, beautiful rooms like a ghost itself, and the result is an unsettling, almost voyeuristic vibe. The cavernous, labyrinthine nature of the hotel gradually becomes oppressive as we watch Jack slowly give in to his madness.
And what a surrender it is! You’d be hard-pressed to find a Jack Nicholson performance as hypnotic and visceral as this one. The scene in which Jack slowly stalks Wendy up the stairs is a tour-de-force performance which, rumor has it; Kubrick made Nicholson do 30+ times, only to end up using his first take. Fans of the book are usually unanimous in their scorn for the decision to give Jack a dangerous vibe right off the bat, but the choice is actually a very smart one. Kubrick’s film makes us more readily question if the evil is really latent in the hotel, or if it has come from Jack himself. Giving us a hint early on of what Jack could become denies us the convenience of blaming this man’s actions on external forces. It was a crucial and very intelligent artistic decision on the part of Kubrick and Nicholson.
The supporting performances are terrific as well. Mr. Hallorann (played by the great Scatman Crothers) makes an exit from the film that is truly painful to watch, and 6 year-old Danny Lloyd delivers an excellent child-actor performance as Danny. Most admirable of the supporting performances, however, is Shelly Duvall's vastly underrated turn as Jack’s mousey, wholly unprepared-for-this wife.
While conveying an understandable bewilderment to Wendy’s terror, Duvall at the same time wisely brings a touch of knowing - because deep down Wendy always knew that her husband had this evil in him. It is a touch, but it makes all the difference, and Shelly Duvall delivers a very intense, very real performance. Wendy can’t fight Jack, so her only option is to run for her life and her son‘s life. While her mouse never roars, it’s tenacious enough to get away - which is, after all, the only chance a mouse ever really has.
THE SHINING is chock-full of terrifying stuff. Creepy twin sisters, a phantom ’butler’, blood pouring out of the elevator - little of which is in the novel. Stephen King, unhappy with the changes made to his story, made a television version in 1997 which he adapted and supervised himself. The result, while more faithful to the book, was rather sterile and had none of the raw terror that Kubrick’s vision boasts. Kubrick’s vision of the story reaches a visceral level of fear and dread that Stephen King’s novel, while creepy and entertaining, simply does not.
THE SHINING is an absolute triumph of a Horror movie. It is a film that gets under your skin and stays there. It is the type of film that can give you shivers years after seeing it. It’s not surprising that a filmmaker like Stanley Kubrick, who made classics of every genre, would make one of the greatest Horror films of all time.
THE SHINING fun facts - For the scene where Jack breaks down the bathroom door with an ax, the props department were forced to build a stronger door because Jack Nicholson had worked as a volunteer firefighter and tore the ‘breakaway’ door apart too easily.
Because Shelly Duvall was required to be in an almost constant state of terror, she eventually ran out of tears from crying so hard. She kept bottles of water with her at all times on set to remain hydrated.
Stanley Kubrick was very protective of young Danny Lloyd during filming. So much so that Lloyd thought he was making a drama. He didn’t learn the truth until much later, and only saw the uncut version after he turned 17.
So many changes were made to the script while shooting that Jack Nicholson would only read and learn the pages just before the cameras rolled.
Jack - “Heeeeere’s Johnny!!”
Grady Daughters - “Hello Danny. Come and play with us.”
Mr. Hallorann - “Nothin'. There ain't nothin' in Room 237. But you ain't got no business goin' in there anyway. So stay out. You understand? Stay out.”
Jack – “Stop swinging the bat. Put the bat down, Wendy. Wendy? Give me the bat…”