10 Classic Movies You've Always Misunderstood
7. The Shining - It's Not Just Scary
Along with The Exorcist, The Shining is one the greatest horror of all time contenders that contemporary audiences leave thinking whats all the fuss about. Primarily misunderstanding that horror films dont need to be terrifying from the production logos (in the same way not every comedy needs Airplane's high delivery level or every drama needs you weeping for two hours), in the case of Kubrick's remarkably unfaithful adaptation theres a devilishly (or bartenderishly) deep subtext at work.
The Shining is a truly terrifying film, although it is one that takes a couple of viewings to fully appreciate the full scale of it's horrors. But while you may be a gibbering wreck at the unconventional reimagining of the three little pigs after two, by the tenth or twentieth viewing youre finally getting to the understanding that its mastermind intended.
From Native American revenge to an exercise in subliminal advertising, Kubrick instilled The Shining with so much hidden visual cues theres a film dedicated to the obsession of it's shot combing fans (one even proposes the film is an apology for faking the moon landings). This may be more a misconception of general moviegoers, not just cineliterates, but it's certainly worth repeating here.
So yeah, not just a latter-day The Conjuring.