The Best Stephen King Adaptation Is Coming To Max

Visually, tonally, and musically, Stanley Kubrick’s take on the beloved Stephen King novel of the same name hits differently. Even though the storyline essentially trashed the one penned by King (which led to quite a bit of contention between the author and director), it’s still a well-written movie that sucks you in and holds onto you from start to finish. Set to a haunting score that uses low tones to drive the terror home and a set based on the interior of a lodge inside a National Park; there’s nothing not to love about Kubrick’s vision for The Shining. 

In The Shining, Jack Nicholson stars as Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who just landed a job as the winter caretaker at The Overlook, a hotel deep in the mountains of Colorado. He’ll be taking his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son, Danny (Danny Llyod), along with him for what will be several months of solitude as the snow piles up outside. But, as the family soon comes to find out, there’s something sinister lurking in the hotel’s walls, and it won’t stop until it satiates its craving for souls.

The movie’s title comes from a type of psychic power that the young Danny has, which helps him see things that have already come to pass and things that have yet to happen. His gift – “the shining” – is a major plot point that gets a much better description and lore in the book but is kind of more open to audience interpretation in the movie. One thing that remains constant between both is that Danny’s imaginary friend, Tony, who is connected to Danny’s shine, warns him that the hotel is a place plagued with malevolent forces and spirits.

Although the film more than doubled its production cost of $19 million with a box office haul of $47.3 million, it was met with mixed reviews upon its arrival. Along with the pushback that came from Stephen King, fans and critics were also torn on the production even giving Shelly Duvall a Golden Raspberry (at the debut of the now annual event), which would later be rescinded when it was revealed how harsh Kubrick treated her while on set. Over that time, The Shining also amassed a much larger following which has marked it as a genre classic.

One thing that stood out from its first screening was the unforgettable set design and color palette that accompanied the film’s storyline. The outer shots of the movie were done atop Oregon’s Mount Hood at the Timberline Lodge, while the interior was inspired by The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Fun fact – even if you aren’t staying inside the luxury hotel in Yosemite Valley, you can check out the lobby and elevators that directly parallel the sets used in The Shining.

Over the years, The Shining has certainly faced its own set of challenges – particularly stemming from the toxic environment that Kubrick created while filming. However, the film continues to be a standout in its genre and is worth a watch when it checks into Max on September 1.