Do you remember the favorite book of Joey from Friends? It was the only novel he’d
read, and when he was scared he would put it in the freezer. It was The Shining by Stephen
King! The movie with the same title directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring the unforgettable
Jack Nicholson is as popular as the book. The adaptation, which was made in 1980, still
is on the first place on the list of the best horror movies of all time. How did it earn
this title? What was the inspiration behind this dark tale? Why does the writer hate the
movie adaptation of his book so much? And what can we expect from Doctor Sleep, the
movie which is a continuation of this scary blockbuster? Stay with us to the end and find
out! And do not fear, there will be no spoilers! Stephen King is one of the most popular horror
writers in the world and The Shining is probably his most recognizable work. The author, who
had already had a successful debut with Carrie, and released the bestseller Salem’s Lot
wrote another novel after his short stay with his family at The Stanley Hotel located in
the Rocky Mountains. Now pay attention to the name of the hotel because it is extremely
symbolic! The Shining is a story of an aspiring writer Jack Torrance who struggles with a
strong addiction and a writer’s block. He goes with his family to a historic secluded
hotel, where he is supposed to be a caretaker for the winter. His son, who has possessed
psychic abilities called “the shining”, discovers dangerous supernatural forces hidden
in the hotel. The main character, because of his own demons loses his sanity and that
leads to a tragedy. The book, which is a psychological horror contained many references to King's
real life and his own experiences. Meanwhile, the novel became famous mainly
thanks to the movie adaptation made by Stanley Kubrick. The Stanley Hotel, Stanley Kubrick
- here’s the symbolism. And the main character of the story, Jack Torrance, for years has
been associated only with Jack Nicholson’s demonic face expression. This role, along
with Joker from Batman, have been one of Nicholson’s most memorable and scary creations. Let’s
not forget that the scene with the ax, when he screams "Here's Johnny", became one of
the most iconic scenes in the cinema and many times it was on the first place on the list
of the most terrifying scenes in history. Did you know that despite the fact that many
people consider The Shining a classic and an outstanding movie in its genre, the author
is not a fan of it? Stephen King was disappointed with the final version of the movie, and as
he said many times in interviews, he still can’t understand why the viewers think that
this version of the story is scary. King thought that the director broke the rules of the genre,
and through the choice of the main actor, he showed that the main character had been
crazy from the beginning, and unlike in his novel he broke down because of the metaphorical
feelings of remorse, failures and secrets. Have you seen the movie? Do you think it's
better than the book? Can you imagine another actor in the role of Jack Torrance?
It later turned out that not only Stephen King had a problem with the adaptation of
the novel. When the movie appeared in cinemas, the reactions were mixed, with the majority
of them being negative. People criticized the cast and the director, Stanley Kubrick.
The Variety magazine wrote that the movie ruined everything that was frightening in
the novel. It still earned $44 million in America, which wasn’t a bad result, but
it was far behind such productions as The Omen, Halloween and Alien.
But as it often is in the film industry, The Shining over time started attracting more
and more viewers, and started becoming iconic and gained the status of one of the most popular
horror movies of all time. It also remains the most-watched Stanley Kubrick movie among
his 16 works. And did you know that there have been massive problems with filming the
movie from the very start? Can we say that there’s a curse?
First of all, the process of making the movie took a very long time. Jack Nicholson expected
that he would have spent half a year on the set, but his movie partner Shelley Duvall
admitted she had worked for 13 months! In addition, the actress suffered from a somatic
disorder caused by exhaustion. It caused her hair to fall out like crazy! And because of
the dehydration on the set, she constantly had to be supplied with water. In one of the
interviews, the actress admitted that the performance in that movie was the most difficult
in her career. She said that working with Kubrick was an experience that she would not
exchange for any other, but she definitely would never do it again.
Now we know that Shelley Duvall will not return in the role of mother in the upcoming continuation
of the movie. It’s because the actress is struggling with a serious mental illness.
In 2016, the star of not only The Shining but also of such productions as Annie Hall
or Popeye, appeared on the show Dr Phill, where she confessed that she sometimes sees
her late colleague Robin Williams, and that she’s haunted by the Sheriff of Nottingham,
which is a fictional character from "Robin Hood”! And the actress actually admitted
that she needed help! What surprising, or not really, Stanley Kubrick is blamed for
her condition. Why? According to Jack Nicholson, the director was cruel towards her! He told
the people on the set to not show her any sympathy and he never praised her work. As
Duvall later admitted, it was all because for a few months she had to cry for 12 hours
a day six days a week for several months. Is this what Jack Nicholson’s time on the
set looked like as well? Before I tell you that, do you remember how I mentioned a curse?
Well, what you need to know is that during the filming the equipment broke down causing
a loss of $2.5 million so there were delays in the recording. Editing the movie took almost
a year, and the final cost of production was $18 million! It was twice the amount that
was planned! But this still is not all! Because Danny Lloyd who played Danny Torrance
was a child and it was his acting debut, he wasn’t even told that he was playing in
a horror movie! The young actor didn’t take part in the shooting of some of the scenes.
He admitted they everyone was nice to him and they gave him peanut butter sandwiches.
And on the set he could ride around on a bicycle. By the way, did you know that in Toy Story
one of the scenes refers to this theme? Pay attention to the rug! But let’s go back
to Danny, he watched The Shining 11 years after the filming finished. And he’d never
appeared in any other productions after that. But he claims that it’s not because of some
trauma, but because he missed his 15 minutes. I wonder if this biology teacher and a father
of 6 children will appear even for a short time in the new part of The Shining? Would
you like to see what he looks like now? While everybody made sure that Danny had a
good time, Jack Nicholson’s work on the set wasn’t this easy. The director, who’s
known for his harshness and being a perfectionist, did everything so that Nicholson constantly
was annoyed and nervous. That’s why he made sure that the actor got cheese sandwiches,
which he truly hated. Besides that, during the filming Kubrick would make so many changes
in the script almost every day that at some point Nicholson stopped reading it and only
prepared the fragment that he was supposed to play that particular day.
The director often retook the shots and because of that the actors were just exhausted. Can
you imagine that the part with a baseball bat was recorded 127 times?! Also imagine
that to shoot the scene with the door they used 60 of them?! That’s because when Kubrick
learned that Nicholson had once worked as a volunteer firefighter and he was able to
smash a door, he ordered really solid doors, instead of fake ones. And although the recording
of that part took 3 days, one of the most famous and scariest scenes in the history
of cinematography was created. Well, a scene from the latest movie Doctor
Sleep which is a continuation of The Shining, almost literally refers to that moment. What
do we know about the adaptation and the original story? Will it become a classic in its genre
like the first part? Let's start with the fact that Stephen King
himself is worried whether people who saw the movie but haven’t read the book will
not be confused when they reach for its continuation, the novel "Doctor Sleep." Because his version
of The Shining and Kubrick's adaptation have very different plots. It also seems that this
is why the author delayed writing it for such a long time. Because the novel Doctor Sleep
hadn’t appeared until 2013, and was the writer's comeback to horror.
But it seems that it was worth the wait. Because the readers and critics were delighted. Stephen
King had to face not only his previous famous book but also the adaptation, and as you can
see he succeeded. The book has even won the Bram Stoker Award. This time, the main character
of the novel is Dan Torrance, Jack’s son, who is tormented by nightmares from the past,
he’s struggling with serious addiction and is wandering around America. Eventually, he
ends up in the town of New Hampshire, where he brings relief to people who are about to
leave this world. Because of that, he gets the name Doctor Sleep. But he crosses paths
with an organization that consists of people who have the same supernatural powers like
he does. So it shouldn’t be surprising that after
the success of the novel, which is considered the best that Stephen King has released in
years, movie producers want to bring it on the screens again. The movie adaptation of
the book will be made by Mike Flanagan, who has already made several movies and TV series
of this genre. Of course, this time the expectations for his film are huge! After all, he also
has to face the legendary production of the great director. Will the film follow the book
or its previous adaptation? The premiere of the film Doctor Sleep is planned
on November 8. The director admitted in one of the interviews that he really wanted to
connect the world pictured in the book with that created by Kubrick and to get the writer’s
approval. He knew from the beginning that this wouldn’t be easy.
In the end, he succeeded, but as Flanagan revealed, he’d never been stressed like
that in his career before. He was terrified when he was sending a sketch of the script
to the author and a copy of the finished movie to him and to Kubrick's heirs. Fortunately,
in both cases, he got the green light and approval. King has even written some words
of appreciation about the production on his Twitter, which is something he doesn’t do
very often. Do you think this will be a good continuation?
The final trailer of the production shows that the movie is full of references to The
Shining. Besides the unforgettable musical theme, the most known is the Panorama hotel,
to which Danny and his supernatural powers, returns after many years. You can't also miss
the wonderfully detailed interiors, that are associated with Kubrick's film. So there also
are the characteristic rugs, the door to Danny's room with "Redrum" written on them and the
terrifying twins who are inviting the young Torrance to play. You may be wondering if
Jack Nicholson will also appear on the screen. After all, his character from the book plays
an important role in the final story. What we know at the moment, is that he does appear
in the movie, but it hasn’t been revealed what his role will be.
The cast of the new adaptation stars Ewan McGregor, who plays the main role. He is partnered
by Rebecca Ferguson and Jacob Tremblay. And because the premiere of the movie is approaching
really fast, there have already been the first reviews of journalists who have watched it.
Everyone praises the cast and the atmosphere of the movie, and according to what Scott
Menzel from WeLiveEntertainment said, this is best adaptation of King's book since the
"The Shawshank Redemption." And Mike Flanagan perfectly combined nostalgia, tension, mystery
and suspense. Are you looking forward to seeing the movie?
Have you watched The Shining? Are you waiting for its continuation? Do you think the adaptation
of The Shining was better than the book? Let's talk about it in the comments and don’t
forget to subscribe to our channel to stay up to date with CurioSips! Until next time!