10 Most Hysterical Characters In Horror Movie History
3. Wendy Torrance - The Shining (1980)
It would be nigh impossible to talk about hysterical characters without mentioning Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall), so infamously off-the-reservation is her turn in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980).
From the start, Wendy is vulnerable, weak and submissive, more likely to break down than stand up to her husband Jack (Jack Nicholson), and once the otherworldly madness at the Overlook Hotel kicks in, she is all this and more (or perhaps less?). Tormented by Jack, Wendy is brought beyond the point of reason when things start to go topsy-turvy, and she becomes a blubbering, bumbling mess, barely able to pull herself together enough to try and save their son from his father's wrath.
It is testament not only to Duvall's acting abilities, but to the sheer scope of the psychological torment that Kubrick put her through on set, that the performance came out the way it did. But the character is undeniably hysterical for the majority of her screen time.
Author of the original novel, Stephen King – yep, him again – has even said that he feels Kubrick turned Wendy into "one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film", who is "basically just there to scream and be stupid."
Where's the lie?