The Horror Elements In The Film 'The Shining'

One of the best horror classics, the film is a cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s renowned novel of the same name.

When it comes to horror classics, Stanley Kubrick’s 'The Shining' is certain to be stated inside the first sentence. It’s a creepy, unnerving, deeply enticing cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s renowned novel. While Stephen King himself was not a fan of Kubrick’s film, feeling that it failed to capture the spirit of his book, it is a brilliantly crafted film.

It might no longer be a trustworthy adaptation of King’s book, however, it simply might be the greatest horror film of all time on its very own merits. Here are some important element why 'The Shining' is the greatest horror film ever made:

Beautiful Visuals

Most horror directors don’t take their movie’s coloration palette or framing or the sequencing of their shots into consideration, however, that’s not Stanley Kubrick’s style. All of his unforgettable haunting imagery, like the elevator doorways letting out a tidal wave of blood, is now regarded as iconographic.

Importance of Expression

The entire cast of 'The Shining' offers outstanding performances, from Shelley Duvall’s apprehensive wife/mother personality to the sounds of Scatman Crothers’ soothing voice in his overall performance as Dick Hallorann.

Even Danny Lloyd, who was simply eight years old at the time, is fascinating in his role. But it’s Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Jack Torrance’s gradual descent into insanity that definitely sells the film. The villain isn’t a masked, machete-wielding serial killer or a horde of zombies. It’s simply a guy, so the complete success of the film rests on Nicholson’s performance.

Using Horror Elements

 Scary things in films can be cut up into two categories - fictional, like werewolves and zombies, and real, like dying and violence. 'The Shining' makes use of fictional horrors to discover real horrors like suicide or murders and child abuse. The real world horrors are hidden in the subtext of the film.

ack tells a conflicting story to his imaginary bartender about the time he hit Danny, while the greatest sensual scenes show up as they would in a child’s mind, suggesting a history of similar mistreatment. There are some very grim hidden meanings in the film that make it more absolutely horrific than any different horrifying film.

Open Ending

This film ends up in a very open way. It’s so open to interpretation. That keeps the audience on side while we watch it over and over again, due to the fact most of us still can’t ease into it.