The Vault of Horror: Behind the Scenes of "The Shining"

The corpse of an elderly woman rising from a bathtub, two young girls lying butchered in a hallway, torrents of blood pouring out of an elevator and a snowbound family consumed by the horrors of the grand hotel they agreed to look after. Sound familiar? As an avid horror movie fan, "The Shining" is one of my personal favorites. Directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the brilliant novel by Stephen King, this movie is a classic. Here are a few fun facts about the film and its production:

For the purposes of simplicity, Kubrick omitted the living hedge animals that were in the novel and opted for the hedge maze instead.

In one particular scene, Kubrick demanded 127 takes from Shelley Duvall, the actress who portrayed Wendy Torrance.

During the film's production, Kubrick often called Stephen King at strange hours of the night to ask him odd questions.

The ending of the film is not the original. There was an alternate which was removed a week after the release of the film. In the alternate, the party photograph that is featured at the very end of the film melts into a hospital room. In the room, Wendy is resting and Danny is playing nearby. Ullman visits Wendy and tells her that her husband's body has not yet been located. As he leaves, Ullman gives Danny the same ball that rolled into the hallway just before he was attacked in room 237.

For the façade of the grand Overlook Hotel, the Timberline Lodge is Oregon was used. The managers of the Timberline requested that Kubrick not use Room 217, the room that was used in the book, as they feared that no one would stay in the room after seeing the movie. Kubrick acquiesced and changed the "haunted" room to the non-existent 237.

The scene in which Danny is riding his tricycle in the halls of the Overlook and sees the Grady daughters is spliced. This was done to spare the young boy who portrayed Danny Torrance, Danny Lloyd. He was told to turn the corner of the hallway, look frightened and cover his eyes. At a later time, the two girls were shot standing in the hallway. The scenes were spliced together and Lloyd never actually saw the girls.