The Shining is widely regarded as not only one of the best horror movies but one of the greatest movies of all time, but it wasn’t always seen as such, and reactions to it upon its release were quite divisive, and even Stephen King has famously expressed his dislike towards it. Stephen King has terrorized generations of viewers with his novels and short stories, and many of these have been adapted to other media, though not all of them without criticism. Such is the case of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, an adaptation of King’s 1977 novel of the same name that ended up being divisive and plagued by controversy.
The Shining tells the story of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a position as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies, where he hopes to find the inspiration he needs to work on a play. Jack takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), with him in hopes that they can reconnect and rebuild their relationship, but it all gets complicated and frightening when a snowstorm leaves them cut off from the outside world, and along with Danny’s mysterious psychic abilities, the supernatural forces inhabiting the Overlook Hotel awaken and start to mess with Jack’s sanity, leaving Wendy and Danny fighting for their lives.
Although Kubrick used the basic plot line of King’s novel, The Shining ended up being very different from King’s story, with the biggest changes being those related to Jack’s relationship with his family, how the Hotel and its entities influence the residents, and how “the shine” works. Still, The Shining went on to become one of the greatest movies ever, and it has made way for countless interpretations of the story, the characters, and the “hidden messages” left by Kubrick, but the legacy of The Shining hasn’t always been positive, and when it was released, it received mixed reviews, a lot of criticism from Stephen King, and was even nominated for a couple of Razzie Awards.
Why Stephen King Didn't Like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining Movie
Stephen King hasn’t been shy when it comes to expressing his opinion about Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining, and he has made it clear multiple times that he didn’t like it. King went as far as to say that, while Kubrick made a movie with memorable imagery, it was a poor adaptation of his novel and Kubrick set out to “make a horror picture with no apparent understanding of the genre”, and that it’s the only adaptation of his work that he could remember hating. King expressed disappointment in Kubrick ignoring some of The Shining’s core themes, such as the disintegration of family and the dangers of alcoholism, as these were based on his own life, as well as in changing the focus of the story from Danny to Jack, who was presented as an already mentally unstable man rather than an ordinary one who “little by little loses control”. As time has passed, and with Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of The Shining’s sequel novel, Doctor Sleep, King has made some peace with Kubrick’s The Shinning, sharing that Doctor Sleep redeemed everything he disliked about Kubrick’s movie.
Why The Shining's Initial Reception Was So Mixed (& Even Earned It Razzies)
Although The Shining is now praised for its visuals, Kubrick’s interpretation of a man losing his sanity, and the performance of Jack Nicholson, the initial reviews weren’t that welcoming. Critics found that The Shining lacked what made King’s novel so terrifying and pointed out its pace and how unrelatable the characters were as some of its biggest weaknesses, along with how it fails at being a horror movie. The Shining was the only movie by Kubrick to be nominated for the Razzie Awards – Worst Director and Worst Actress for Shelley Duvall – in its first ceremony, though it didn’t win in any category. In 2022, Duvall’s nomination was retracted by the Razzie committee due to the psychological abuse she went through during filming, which ultimately impacted her performance, though Kubrick’s nomination remains. General opinion on The Shining has changed through the years, and it’s now seen more as its own thing rather than an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, which has allowed critics to see it in a different light.