The Shining

I first viewed 1980's THE SHINING at the age of twelve at my friend Michael's house.  He had recently gotten the Showtime cable network and had been excitedly telling me of all the forbidden things he got to watch.  I just had to see this movie, he exclaimed.  He described many of its scenes, making it sound like the scariest thing ever.  He sat and watched it with me for the who knows how many-eth time.  He had not exaggerated too much.  This was a deeply unsettling experience for my tender psyche.  I remember walking home afterward.  It was only a block away, but every shadow scared the shit out of me.

Here I am at forty-nine, and damned if this movie still doesn't make me uneasy.  Is it because I'll always feel like that innocent kid, ignorant of so many of the real horrors of life? Or is it because now I am acutely aware of them?  Stephen King, author of the book upon which this movie is based, really had a talent for elucidating pure evil for readers to process, and to conjure their own horrific visions.  The movie adaptations of his work have varied wildly.  Most have been disposable, barely able to convey in actual images what was so terrifying in print.

Director/co-writer Stanley Kubrick adapted this story of a recovering alcoholic who takes a caretaker job during the off season at a Colorado hotel and loses his mind in the process.  King was not happy with the result, to say the least. Certainly because of the multitude of changes to the plot and characters, but he also accused the director of not understanding the horror genre and creating a film "designed to hurt people."  Despite my admiration for the author, I've always disagreed.  And King proved himself no director with 1986's MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE.

The book is treated by Kubrick as a starting point, a framework on which he and co-screenwriter Diane Johnson develop their own flights of fancy.  Predilections of the very notion of fear.  There are many theories as to the subtext of this movie (see the doc ROOM 237). Something far more subtle than demon possession or mere writer's block.  For me, the idea that this story can be seen as an allegory for the slaughter of Native Americans seems very plausible.  It is described that the Overlook Hotel is built on an old Indian burial ground, and that the Natives tried to disrupt the hotel's erection.  The more you ponder the events of THE SHINING, the more you will find imagery to support this.  The waves of blood pouring out of the elevator shaft.  The wielded axe.

But even forgetting any hidden meaning, Kubrick (quite meticulously) fashioned an unrelentingly eerie motion picture that uses every element to that end.  Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind's creepy score.  John Alcott's crafty cinematography (especially in that outdoor maze).  Props to Garrett Brown and his skillful use of the Steadicam.  Kubrick employs point of view in endlessly inventive ways to make everything and everyone appear quite sinister.  Such lighting! His recreations of grand hotels (interiors and exteriors) on sound stages in Britain are astonishing.  Raj Lovejoy's editing serves to keep viewers uncomfortable, often not understanding quite why.

Jack Nicholson (Jack Torrence)? What an iconic performance.  Every shot of him confirms his celebrity but also makes him appear quite frightening.  And poor Shelley Duvall (Wendy Torrence), widely reported to have been browbeaten by her taskmaster director, all in the name of getting the most convincing performance?  She's extremely convincing, enough for me to want to punch Kubrick in the throat.  Five year old Danny Lloyd is highly effective as Danny, the Torrences' son who has a special gift for telepathy that allows him an accurate, frightening vision of the history of the Overlook, a place destined to repeat it.

Some have said this film is not scary.  I beg to differ.  While there are plenty of things for the eyes and ears to be rattled by, it is what is not seen or heard that really makes THE SHINING one of the greatest of all horror films.  Surely you must understand such implication, Mr. King?