The Shining is famous for being one of the best horror movies ever, and also for the fact that author Stephen King - who wrote the original novel - hated the hell out of it. That's pretty much because director Stanley Kubrick used King's novel as something of a springboard instead of as an adaptation guide, and as a result many of the ideas inherent to King's original vision were left out, leaving the motion picture feeling a lot more ambiguous. Which peeved a lot of people, including the author, as The Shining appears more like a collection of set-pieces and half-formed ideas than a motion picture with a coherent story. Still, as an "experience," it's undeniably terrifying. The ending, though, provoked controversy because it seemed like a final curveball for the sake of it, as we slowly zoom in on a picture from 1921 that shows '80s man Jack Torrance alive and well amongst the guests.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
