A Masterpiece of Horror

Rating: 10/10 (25 September 2001)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Many critics claim that there were two failures in Stanley Kubrik's career. One was the over-hyped "Eyes Wide Shut," which seemed underdeveloped and overacted. The other was "The Shining." Most critics mentioned the differences between the book by Stephen King and the movie's screenplay. (Jack Torrance was too crazy in the movie, his wife was too wimpy in the movie, the boy was too strange in the movie, the moving hedge animals were missing in the movie, etc, etc). I think these critics have actually gotten in wrong. Stephen King should be thanking Kubrik for what he did--he took an average book about the effects of child abuse and turned it into a masterpiece of modern horror.
First, let's examine the events in the book. We learn that Jack Torrance has a bad temper, and that he has been fired for hurting a student. We also learn that he broke his son's arm once in a fit of rage. Most of this was done in an alcoholic rage. Needing money, he moves his family to the Overlook hotel and takes the job of the winter caretaker. His son, Danny, has visions of horrible things in the hotel: a blood-stained wall, a hand coming from a bathtub, and the words REDRUM. Slowly, Jack becomes obsessed with the hotel's past, while strange things begin happening to his son. A fire hose begins to menace the small boy and the hotel's hedge animals begin to move and "hunt" him. He has recurring nightmares about a figure stalking him in the hallways with a bat, telling him repeatedly to "take your medicine!" Meanwhile, acting as though he's back off the wagon, Jack becomes convinced that he should kill his family and, quite predictably, turns into the figure in the hallway with the baseball bat. Only at the end of the novel does Jack snap out of it, rescuing his family from the hotel before it blows up (he forgot to fix the heater in the basement). (Bear in mind, this is an extremely brief summary of a 300+ page book).

Okay, here are some problems right away with the novel. One, it's almost downright silly. Moving hedge animals? That's not scary, it's almost laughable. A threatening fire hose? Not scary. A blood-stained wall? Seen that on television too many times. The only true terror from the book comes from room 217 and the woman in the bathtub. The other problem from the novel is that most of it is told through the child's point of view. His "shinings" and visions are scary, yes, but they are still childlike. We don't question if the ghosts exist to Jack or Wendy, we question if they are real for Danny. Are these the real ghosts of a haunted hotel? Or are they the ghosts of a traumatized, abused child's mind?
Now let's address the movie. The film begins similarly to the novel. Jack Torrance interviews for a position at the Overlook Hotel. Meanwhile, his wife discloses to a nurse that her son was once "injured" by Jack by accident when he was "still drinking." The student from the novel is dropped. Danny begins to have his visions--an elevator opens to release torrents of blood down a hallway. As the family moves into the hotel, Danny continues to have "shinings," such as seeing the two twin girls mutilated in the hallway. These visions are graphic and haunting. Meanwhile, Jack begins to have visions--a bartender serves him alcohol, a caretaker tells him to rid of his family. Danny eventually wanders into room 237--room 217 in the film--, and when Jack goes in, he finds the woman in the bathtub. She appears beautiful, but when he sees her reflection, he realizes she is actually a decomposed body. (To get into the use of mirrors in the film would require a whole new essay). Eventually, Jack goes insane, stalking his family with an axe, chasing Danny through a maze of hedges. Wendy runs through the hotel, seeing several ghosts and bizarre visions. Jack eventually gets lost in the maze andfreezes to death.
How is this an improvement on the book? For one, Kubrick changes the point of view. The movie is told strictly through Jack Torrance's point of view. We see Danny's visions, but they are much more "adult." The blood streaming down the hallway is much more menacing than a dog-shaped hedge animal. Secondly, Jack himself is much scarier in the movie. Some people say the character is over the top, but I disagree. In the book, the repeated "Take your medicine!" references got old REALLY fast. Watching Jack Nicholson smile crookedly and say "Heeeeere's Johnny!" in the movie still gives me the chills. The bizarre visions that Wendy sees near the film's conclusion are also an added bonus. While searching for Danny, she sees three different visions. First, she sees what appears to be a man in a bear costume performing oral sex on a man in tuxedo. A viewer might be tempted to say "HUH?", but that is what makes it so frightening to me. Wendy wouldn't know what the heck was going on, so why should the viewer? Not knowing makes us as scared as Wendy was at that point. Then, she sees a man with blood trickling down his forehead. "Great party, isn't it?" he says. What party? Who cares! Like I said before, she would have no idea what was going on...why should we? Finally, Wendy sees the blood pouring from the elevators, a terrifying image that gave me nightmares the first time I saw it.
Overall--and since I've been writing far too long already--the movie is much better than the book. The novel seemed silly and juvenile, while the film seemed subtle, morbid, terrifying, and very, very adult. Some say Kubrick didn't tie up all of the loose ends. I say he left out enough information to bring the audience back for more.