Why Kubrick's The Shining is So Compelling

Stanley Kubrick's Film Actually Reduces Horror of the Book

Upon the release of the Stanley Kubrick-directed film version of The Shining, many fans of the Stephen King novel upon which the film was based expressed emotions ranging from utter disappointment to outright incredulity at the changes made in the translation from novel to film. Many viewers were completely dumbfounded at the deletions and changes made by the legendary director in his vision of the most commercially successful novel written up to that time by the then not quite so legendary horror novelist. Even Stephen King himself was quite vocal about his negative reaction to what Kubrick had created from the base material of King's own potboiler novel. Based upon the lackluster audience attracted to the film after its quite successful opening weekend, it appeared that Kubrick had quite possibly gone wrong somewhere in his visual rendition of King's printed story. However, in the last 20 odd years since the film's initial release, (aided no doubt by a recent television miniseries version which was more faithful to the novel while being far less interesting and compelling than Kubrick's film), the big screen version of The Shining has grown in stature as a towering film achievement deserving of far more critical and commercial respect than it achieved upon its arrival. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that Kubrick's film version actually improves upon the novel's themes by reducing the scope of the horror involved.