Everybody knows Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Hailed as probably one of the greatest horror films of all time, it still stands the test of time even forty years since its release. One aspect of this is its familiarity: it dominates pop culture. Every American comedy has spoofed parts of The Shining for their Halloween episodes. And these parts slot so well into other media because they have been integral to horror for hundreds of years — clichés, if you will.
Perhaps the most important cliche used by Kubrick, is Isolation. The Overlook Hotel is cut off from the world. There’s no other staff, it sits at the top of a bleak and lonely mountain, and it is far too large for three people. The hotel can be seen as a twist on the classic Gothic haunted castle. Emptiness and solitude are integral fears for all of us: loneliness goes against the human condition. No wonder this film has such a profound impact on almost all who watch it. Is everyone at risk of losing our minds, if we are just left alone for long enough?
This leads us onto The madman. Jack Nicholson is perhaps the most famous cinema lunatic ever. Watching him smash his way through the bathroom door with an axe, you can’t help feeling terrified. Unexplained madness chills the bone. We want explanation, understanding, of why evil people do what they do. Jack Torrance does not provide this. Either he has simply snapped, or a mysterious entity has taken control of him. Neither satisfies the want to comprehend why a man would want to kill his whole family. Was it his upbringing, an underlying psychological condition, or exposure to too much violent media? No — it’s an evil hotel. Andrew Green states that the function of Gothic (and by extension, horror) is to “provoke unease”. By leaving no answers, Kubrick does just that.
The evil house is a large point of contention for audiences. What is it, really? A malevolent spirit possesses the Overlook, bringing ghosts and blood and dead bodies in the bathrooms. As Jack Torrance succumbs to the madness, he fades into obscurity, becoming one with the entity that has stolen his soul. There is no hero’s ending, no redemption. It’s disappointing, in a way. But an ending that makes you angry will always stick longer than a happy one.
And those are some of the reasons that The Shining, with all of its wonderful clichés, has lived on so long. It’s a masterwork of horror, a staple of pop culture, and a lesson in good writing.
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