History Film / TheShining

** Used with the naked woman, crossed with TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf. As Jack is kissing the woman, he looks into the mirror and is horrified to find himself [[spoiler:embracing a cackling, rotting, zombie-woman]].

Although it achieved decent commercial success at the box office, the film was seen as a critical disappointment at the time of its release in 1980, notably and infamously receiving two [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzie]] nominations for Worst Director (Kubrick) and Worst Actress (Duvall), as preposterous as it may be to believe now.[[note]]Duvall's nomination was rescinded on March 31, 2022 following revelations of Kubrick's extremely demanding and abusive treatment of her on set.[[/note]] The film's most notable detractor was [[CreatorBacklash Stephen King himself]], who ''hated'' it for the numerous alterations and creative liberties Kubrick took with the film compared to the events of the novel, to the point that he would choose to write and produce his own more faithful adaptation of the book as a TV miniseries in 1997.

-->'''Stuart Ullman''': He put both barrels of a shotgun into his mouth.

-->'''Stuart Ullman''': By five o'clock tonight, you'll never know anybody was ever here.
-->'''Wendy''': Just like a ghost ship, huh?

-->'''Jack Torrance''': Get him out of here? You mean just…leave the hotel? It is so ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]'' typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something...When I'm ''really'' into my work...I could really write my own ticket if I went back to Boulder now, couldn't I? Shoveling out driveways? Workin' in a carwash? Does that ''appeal'' to you...Wendy, I have let you fuck up my life so far, but I am ''not'' going to let you fuck this up!

---> '''Delbert Grady''': [[spoiler: I'm sorry to differ with you, sir...but ''you'' are the caretaker. You've ''always'' been the caretaker. I should know, sir. I've always been here.]]

** Wendy reading Jack's "novel."

-> '''Danny''': Dad?\\
'''Jack''': What?\\
'''Danny''': You wouldn't ever hurt Mommy or me, would you?\\
'''Jack''': ...What do you mean?

However, [[VindicatedByHistory these days]], ''The Shining'' is near-universally regarded as a masterwork of horror cinema, and one of the most influential, widely discussed, and widely referenced films the genre has ever seen. Even King himself would eventually come around to regard Kubrick's film as good on its own merits, but would still consider it a poor adaptation of his book, a consensus generally shared by King fans and Kubrick fans alike.

* SlasherMovie: The movie was a much different take on the kind of slasher movies that were becoming popular at the time. It's much more psychological; it's what happens when Creator/StanleyKubrick makes one. Notably, there are only [[spoiler:two]] deaths in the film.

-->'''Jack Torrance''': Get him out of here? You mean just…leave the hotel? It is so ''[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]'' typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something...When I'm ''really'' into my work...I could really write my own ticket if I went back to Boulder now, couldn't I? Shoveling out driveways? Workin' in a carwash? Does that ''appeal'' to you...Wendy, I have let you fuck up my life so far, but I am ''not'' going to let you fuck this up!

-->'''Jack Torrance''': Get him out of here? You mean just…leave the hotel? It is so *fucking* typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something...When I'm *really* into my work...I could really write my own ticket if I went back to Boulder now, couldn't I? Shoveling out driveways? Workin' in a carwash? Does that *appeal* to you...Wendy, I have let you fuck up my life so far, but I am *not* going to let you fuck this up!

* HateSink:
** Jack Torrance, unlike his literary counterpart, is reimagined as a self-centered, abusive, and possibly racist father and husband. He views his wife as only being good enough to have his child, and he is also dismissive towards his son Danny. When the hotel starts to corrupt him, Jack destroys the radio to strand his family in the hotel before trying to kill them. He's not completely devoid of light, though. He has an utterly horrified and tearful emotional breakdown after having a nightmare of himself killing his wife and child, which implies that he's a good and loving but very flawed man who gets taken over and twisted into a monster by the hotel's horrible influence.
** The [[EldritchLocation Overlook Hotel]] drives its caretakers to murderous insanity ending with the deaths of both themselves and their families. It compels Jack Torrance into attempting to kill Danny and Wendy.

* SmashCut: [[spoiler:After Jack has wandered around the hedge maze long enough, he starts succumbing to his frostbites and sits down. The shot holds on it from afar until it suddenly cuts to the still frame of the iconic shot of him frozen to death.]]

* ClueOfFewWords: One recurring mystery is why [[CreepyChild Danny]] keeps repeating, "Redrum", at one point writing it on the wall. It later turns out to be because he has PsychicPowers and was predicting John becoming murderous (since "redrum" spells "murder" backwards).

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie cuts most of the exposition and backstory, as well as the context for some scenes, such as [[spoiler: the true nature of Danny's imaginary friend Tony (in the book he's Danny from the future), the woman in Room 237, and the two men in masquerade costumes Wendy sees while searching for Danny.]] The movie is better for it, as it would be difficult to properly convey these in a visual medium, as the later mini-series remake would prove.

* DaylightHorror: As horrific as it is, there are few scenes that are literally dark. It's a pretty bright and well-lit movie.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Zig-zagged. There's no question that Jack's actions in both the book and film make him a villain, especially when he reaches the point where he willingly joins forces with the hotel's spirits. However in the book, Jack resists the pull of the hotel (which is the true villain) for a good while as it tortures his mind and tries to lure him with alcohol and distrust of his wife. He is the central protagonist, made clear in the book that he is a good man who unfortunately inherited his father's addiction, but having seemingly beaten his addiction, he is a loving husband and father. In the movie, thanks to Jack Nicholson's sinister performance from the first to last frame and barely even the faintest show of resisting the hotel's affect on him, it just seems like Jack is a crazy, abusive man; the perfect personification of the hotel's malevolent intent.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler: Hallorann, axed by Jack.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Played with. Barry Dennen's Bill Watson is far younger and better looking than the gruff, older man with a cold he's described as in the book.

After [[SequelGap nearly 39 years]], this film received a direct sequel in the form of ''Film/DoctorSleep''.

* AdaptedOut: In the novel, [[spoiler: Danny (and the reader) can actually see Tony, though it's not until the end that he's described as looking like an older Danny. In the film, "Danny" is represented with Danny Lloyd wagging his finger and changing the inflection of his voice.]]

** While the movie departs from the book quite a bit, it can stand on its own. In fact, much of the film's deviations were for the sake of making something that could actually be pulled off in live-action, with the later miniseries demonstrating that even over a decade and a half later, it's still not a book that can easily be adapted straightforwardly in a visual medium.

** The replacement of the topiary animals with a hedge maze was done in part to avoid a potential SpecialEffectsFailure, but the maze also fits in well with the labryinthine nature of the hotel's interior.

Some interpretations of the film's themes are explored in the {{Documentary}}, ''Room 237''.