The Shining

Image 1: Film Poster The Shining is a psychological horror with thriller elements. Directed by Stanley Kubrick The Shining plunges the viewer into the depths of a man's insanity and how the solitude slowly deteriorates though out the film. You can see it from the very beginning when he is in the car talking to his wife showing how irritable he is and even in the interview we see that he is not even taken aback by the story of the previous caretaker. The Shining is not kind to the viewer because on of it's main selling points is this growing sense that the events that are passing aren't just forms of neurosis but something more sinister, something long dead but very much present. Jack speaks to the ghost of Delbert Grady in the men's room. ~ Imdb (fig.1) This quote tells us that the lead character is talking to a ghost. This rewrites the entire plot in one sense because it gives an uncomfortable feeling that there is a supernatural entity at work. This aspect of the plot is only every hinted except in the case of the little boy who is allegedly psychic and witnesses forms of possession. The way that it is depicted however is him talking to himself with a strange voice.

Image 2: Image Still

The uncertain supernatural aspect is built up and almost becomes a rather dark joke when in the final scenes of the film you hear an eerie applause as if the ghosts had enjoyed their entertainment and are welcoming their latest member. If one is determined to find a super natural explanation for the strange goings-on in the old, grand, snowbound hotel in the Rockies, it is just barely possible to do so~ Time Magazine (fig.2). The film mixes psychological horror with dark comedy making you laugh almost unintentionally. The Shining can be interacted with from a purely naturalist perspective however it becomes harder as various parts of the story takes place. The film is written by the horror novel writer Stephen King who loves playing with the supernatural to increase the helplessness factor in his stories. In his book, King took a fundamental horror formula - an innocent family marooned in an evil dwelling with a grim history - and built layers of ingenious terror upon it. The father is gradually possessed by the demonic, desolate hotel. ~ Variety (fig.3) The horror elements are similar to the silent hill series in the fact that it's like the force against you is the environment itself. The house itself often is shown to be the true enemy. Image List Image 1 Film Poster, http://angryczeck.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/51B1thk7EHL1.jpg, (Accessed 19-01-2012) Image 2 Film Still, http://www.seattlegayscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/TheShining.jpg, (Accessed 19-01-2012) Bibliography Figure 1 The Shining, Imdb, US, 1980, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/ (Accessed 19-012012) Figure 2 Time Magazine, Richard Schickel, Monday, June 02 1980, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924179,00.html (Accessed 19-01-2012) Figure 3 Variety, Variety Staff, Monday, December 31, 1979, 11:00pm PT, http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794836?refcatid=31 (Accessed 19-01-2012)