Stephen King Explains Why He Still Hates Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING
It's no secret that Stephen King doesn't like Stanley Kubrick's big screen adaptation of The Shining. Even 33 years after the film's release nothing has changed. King still hates the film, and in a recent interview with the BBC, the master of horror explains why.
"[It's] cold, I’m not a cold guy. I think one of the things people relate to in my books is this warmth, there’s a reaching out and saying to the reader, ‘I want you to be a part of this.’ With Kubrick’s The Shining I felt that it was very cold, very ‘We’re looking at these people, but they’re like ants in an anthill, aren’t they doing interesting things, these little insects.’
He didn't really seem to care for Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack either:
"Jack Torrance in the movie, seems crazy from the jump. Jack Nicholson, I’d seen all his biker pictures in the ’50s and ’60s and I thought, he’s just channeling The Wild Angels here."
King got The Wild Angels movie mixed up with Hells Angels on Wheels. It's not big deal, I just wanted to point that out in case there was any confusion because Nicholson wasn't in Wild Angels. King then went on to talk about how much he disliked Kubrick’s depiction of Wendy.
"Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she’s basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about."
I personally think Kubrick's Shining is a freakin' great horror film, and even though it was different from the book, I still thought it was amazing. I liked it just as much as the book, but in different ways. I can understand why King wouldn't like it though, it was his baby, and Kubrick just did his own thing.
Do you think King makes some good points here?
Via: The Playlist