Stanley Kubrick is one of the foremost masters of cinema and, as an American director, is second only to Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike Hitchcock, Kubrick shifted from genre to genre with each film. With his liberal reading of Stephen King’s 1977 novel by the same name, the director brings forth, not only a nightmare vision–a parable for terrors readily found within modern-day society but, in so doing, progresses the philosophy and psychology of horror, the effects and techniques of which are still being implemented, not only in contemporary horror films, but in most every film produced today.
The haunted house tale, which serves as the now standardized metaphor for the dysfunctional nuclear family, revolves around Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson in his first film since Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), a recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the seasonal caretaker of an isolated Colorado resort which is due to close shortly for the winter. He takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), with him during his stay after relocating to Boulder from Virginia after, as we are given to assume, he was fired due to his rampant drinking or maybe even sexual harassment. (Evidence for the former is seen in that the Torrances have resided in Colorado a scant three months after Jack “quit” his position two months prior, which “coincided” with his inadvertent abuse of his son and, for the latter, in that Jack rubbernecks to watch as female staff exit on the closing day of the hotel atop committing an act of infidelity during the feature. Kubrick never offers easy answers) As time passes, Jack’s mental state deteriorates, prompted by cabin fever, after he falls off the bandwagon and subsequently transforms into a murderous, axe-wielding psychopath promoted by the influence of the hotel’s haunted past.
Taking into account who the director is, this is a barebones plot synopsis to say the least. The work functions on many, many more levels than its overt storyline. The film, much like the famed hedge maze seen within the movie, is a labyrinth of themes and ideas all enclosed within the framework of horror.
Many initial responses to the film highlights the metaphor, not of the dysfunctional family, but rather the guilt (epitomized by the various characters’ “shining”) of a bloody, genocidal past which Jack, being a white male, is having to subconsciously confront (which is spoken of freely elsewhere, thus I will proceed to other aspects of the work). This facet of Nicholson’s character is epitomized in the fact that, when Jack seems to be talking to the “racist ghosts of his haunted past” or, in short, his hallucinations, there is always a mirror present, thus the symbolism is realistically portrayed in this respect. (For those skeptics who want to refute this claim via a scene in which Jack is locked in a walk-in freezer, such detractor’s evidence is subsequently nullified for we can readily see Jack’s reflection in the door.) As a consequence, though it is very subtly implied, Danny, because he is seen speaking to his imaginary friend Tony while looking into the bathroom mirror during the film’s opening scenes, will inevitably follow in his father’s footsteps.
The tension is further compounded by the masterfully erected claustrophobic setting from the offset as it gradually enshrouds the viewer during the course of the film. We are first brought into an abandoned hotel and, as the forecasted winter blizzard ensues (thus paralleling the central character’s mental disintegration), the time frame begins to shift from months, to weeks, to days, then hours as Jack’s insanity steadily engulfs him.
All of these themes are major plot elements to the work as a whole but, over time, other facets of the film reveal themselves after repeated viewings, such as the influence of television–the characters readily quote from popular programs of the time–as well as the implementation of number theory revolving around twelve and its reflection (thus aligning themes for a more compact feature), the number 21.
I will consent that, though the film is complex and handles the weight of its various concepts and ideas well, always keeping its eyes staunchly focused upon evoking terror, the film suffers from one primary weaknesses. The casting is topnotch in that Shelley Duvall, with her bulging eyes, looks perpetually paranoid and subsequently terrified by default, while most people believe that Nicholson is crazy without having to act. However, we are never given just grounds upon why she is victim to hallucinations during the film (being a minority) aside from the possibility that she is suffering from a nervous breakdown.
As many have stated, The Shining is a landmark of horror cinema because, if nothing else, it still frightens modern audiences solely upon the strength of its pacing, cinematography, and atmosphere, without the viewer necessarily reading into its themes, which still run rampant, thus continue to terrify, contemporary society. Though not one of Stanley Kubrick’s tightest works per se, it is a very notable film and still manages to graduate with an A, right behind Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead at the top of the modern horror class.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
