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The Shining!

Mark4583

New Member
After many years of watching the Movie The Shining I had never read the book even though im a huge King fan, So I got it to see how the two differed and was I amazed! Other than the 3 family members and a haunted hotel it just about stops there, I didnt think there was and or few simalarities in the two, almost completly diffrent and was left woundering how King felt about the way the made this movie.
 
After many years of watching the Movie The Shining I had never read the book even though im a huge King fan, So I got it to see how the two differed and was I amazed! Other than the 3 family members and a haunted hotel it just about stops there, I didnt think there was and or few simalarities in the two, almost completly diffrent and was left woundering how King felt about the way the made this movie.

He didn't like it.
 
I seen the mini-series of it first before reading the book. Then I eventually watched Kubrick's version of the story. I didn't like the old movie.
 
I want to read all of King's older stuff sometime. I'll probably start with It. I've posted it before, but here's the hotel in Colorado that King stayed at that inspired him to write The Shining.

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Two scenes were shot in this hotel, the rest over in Europe. Jack Nicholson and the gang came back to the hotel to film a tribut thing a few years back for ABC(Or was it CBS?, perhaps KLMNOP?) One of those stations.
 
The Shining

Hello all, first post here.

My latest read was The Shining by Stevie King. I really liked the book from start to finish and I'll note that it was my first King novel that I've read and found that it was as good as the movie in terms of psychological thiller/horror.

Jack's descent into madness is probably the main theme in the book in my opinion. I always felt myself questioning the legitimacy of the horrors done by the hotel as if you were unintentionally sharing Jack's slow slide into insanity, leaving you asking if what everyone sees and hears is an actual reality or not. That the hotel in fact, is merely an illusion or hallucination of sorts. It was always brought into question and always left me in a position to evaluate the characters. Be it to feel sorry for Mrs. Torrance or share the shame of Jack T.


What are some other good horror or psychological horrors that someone would like to share? I haven't read that many books so chances are I haven't read what you might suggest.
 
I've only seen the film. Perhaps I should pick it up.
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I love the book, hate the movie, and really liked the mini-series and felt it did a pretty good job with the story (far better than the film did). However, I can't stand the kid they picked to play Danny in the mini-series...him and the poor dead make-up at times took away from the mini-series for me.
 
The movie itself was pretty strange at times, if you were to pay attention to the many added details.

To get a good view of what I'm talking about, watch this youtube 3-part series by Rob Ager. He goes into detail about many things that Kubrick did with the film. Kubrick himself is a pretty strange guy when it came to making his movies. He was really subliminal at times and managed to add a lot of questionable details in all movies he did.

It's like he saw an opportunity to create something from The Shining.


I can't post a clickie-url yet. So on youtube, search for The Shining Analysis, by Rob Ager. Parts 1-3
 
The Shining - movie versus mini-series

I think fans of the book will generally prefer the mini-series because the story lines are very much alike, whereas Kubrick's movie reinvents the story. Did you know that Stephen King himself hated the Stanley Kubrick adaptation from The Shining? I personally prefer the movie because it's creepier and more mysterious than the mini-series and the book. In general, I think that the movies based on King's work are better than the books they're based on (except for his short stories).
 
I don't think either does the story justice; the film has a great director and at least one great actor, but misses the point of the story. The mini-series has a pretty good script, but lacks everything else.

In general, I think that the movies based on King's work are better than the books they're based on (except for his short stories).

Really? Sure there have been a couple of decent or even great adaptations (Dead Zone, Carrie, Christine, Misery). But then you have utter shit like Cujo, The Running Man, Thinner, Firestarter, Dreamcatcher... OK, that last one wasn't really the movie's fault, I guess.

And while his short stories have resulted in movies like Graveyard Shift, Children of the Corn, Maximum Overdrive and The Mangler (how did anyone ever think there was a movie in that one?!?), it's also given us Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. So I'm not sure it's the length of the story that's the problem.

By pure coincidence, I watched Hearts In Atlantis yesterday. Odd thing; it's based on a short(ish) story and manages to contain less story in 2 hours than the original story managed...
 
I had never read any horror before, so I decided I'd read the Shining. The only problem is i sthat I like to read late at night in bed, but with this I couldn't becuase it freaked me out too much. lol!

The thing I like about the movie, though, was when Danny would ride around the hotel on his trike. The on and off carpet sound freaked me out! **shiver**
 
Stephen King on Kubrick/The Shining

This is a repost because it took forever for me to find it.
Book & Reader Forums - View Single Post - has there been any movie that was......
"Bare Bones: Conversations on terror with Stephen King" -Tim Underwood & Chuck Miller, editors.

("Playboy Interview: Stephen King." Published in U.S. Playboy, June 1983)
[Kubrick] used to make transatlantic calls to me from England at odd hours of the day and night, and I remember once he rang up and asked, "Do you believe in God?" I thought a minute and said, "Yeah, I think so." Kubrick replied, "No, I don't think there is a God," and hung up. Not that religion has to be involved in horror, but a visceral skeptic such as Kubrick just couldn't grasp the sheer inhuman evil of the Overlook Hotel. So he looked, instead, for evil in the characters and made the film into a domestic tragedy with only vaguely supernatural overtones. That was the basic flaw: because he couldn't believe, he couldn't make the film believable to others... The second problem was in characterization and casting. Jack Nicholson...was all wrong for the part...What's basically wrong with Kubrick's version of The Shining is that it's a film by man who thinks too much and feels too little...I'd like to remake The Shining someday, maybe even direct it myself...


I love that last part about remaking The Shining ;)

It shouldn't be a surprise that the miniseries follows so closely to the novel - after all, King wrote the teleplay.
 
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