Mixed Results at Best

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2012)

I remember as a high schooler in the late 1970s our family passing The Shining paperback around like a sacred document, it was so treasured. It was our "I'm so scared to turn the page, but have to" book of our lifetimes.
So, when I read the novel was going to be made into a quality movie and with...gulp...Stanley Kubrick directing, well, it was a dream come true. That was until a late night in 1980 as I left my local theater duplex feeling deflated and nearly angry.
Spoilers Ahead
Jack Nicholson: When announced, Jack Nicholson seemed like "the" choice to play Jack Torrance, a character whom battled alcoholism that that lead to injuring his son. Those remotely familiar with the book knew Torrance goes crazy within the grand hotel, and hell, Nicholson had won an Oscar flying over the cuckoos nest just a couple years earlier.
For better or worse (mostly for the better), Nicholson as an actor who presents a natural on-screen quirkiness that can easily fall into an interpretation of instability. As we get to know Torrance during the job interview scene, we sense he's off kilter to begin with. so the character's spiraling from "Sober Jack" to "Crazy Jack" via ghost-encouraged drinking was minor. The lack of contrast between the two Jacks neuters the damaging and horrifying influence the hotel has on its winter caretakers.
Maze vs. Topiary: The characters most people within my circle were excited to see realized on film where not human at all. They were the novel's killer topiaries. What a brilliant idea King had. Who, as a kid, has seen wild animal topiary and not fantasized that they would be like if they came to life. We never would find out. Someone wiser than King gave them the boot.
That left us with an ivy maze substitute which became the setting for a rather anti-climatic ending to Torrance's life manufactured for the movie, sidestepping the novel's version. Sorry Stanley, your change was not equal in spirit to Spielberg's decision to change the wrap up of Jaws.
The Premature Killing of Halloran: Heroic and beloved by novel readers worldwide, killing him off so soon seemed not only like a cheap stunt, but eliminated an potential adversary for Torrance and possibly saving the rest of the movie from being one long chase scene.
The Framed Photos Panning Shot Conclusion: One of more discussed scenes in The Shining and ultimately the most shameful for Kubrick is the closing scene with a panning of framed vintage photos of one-time employees and guests who frequented the hotel. As we reach the last photo, who do we see partying it up with a group of others? Jack Torrance himself.
Did the hotel absorb his soul? Was his image always in the photo, predicting his eventual visit and death? Who know and who cares! The exact same ending concept was filmed in the 1976 horror/suspense movie, Burnt Offerings, starring Oliver Reed and Karen Black. It was a total, nick, lift, rip-off by Kubrick.
If the novel's plot points being massaged so greatly wasn't disappointing enough, those who are horror movie savvy surely were disgusted by the Burnt Offerings "homage".
On the positive side, son Danny played by Danny Lloyd, was perfectly casted and Kubrick created a wonderful environment for the happenings to occur and expertly filmed it. Who will ever forget Danny rolling his trike around the halls of the Overlook?
To be fair, opinions usually come from two camps: those who have not read the novel and look to it generally positively or mixed, and those who have read it and come away overall disappointed.
I just walked away knowing the best King novel to date could have been so much more.