‘No Engine Inside’: Why Stephen King Downright Hates Kubrick’s All-Time Horror Gem
And why the fans understand his feelings.
There are not many movies that earn the status of all-time golden gems. It's the movies like The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Jaws and a few others that you've definitely seen not once, but many times over the years.
It seems that every genre has its own staple films that are considered the best to this day. And it's no wonder that when it comes to horror, it's Stephen King and the movies based on his novels that we celebrate the most.
One of such is definitely 1980 The Shining, Stanley Kubrick‘s movie featuring Jack Nicholson as a recovering alcoholic who loses his mind. The movie is one of the most valued in the industry, both for the gripping story it tells and for the excellent performance from all the cast members.
The movie revolves around Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, and his family, as they end up together in a mysterious hotel where sinister events start happening and turn Jack into a violent maniac.
Despite the fact that it’s a very celebrated movie, one very important person didn't like it at all. And as you already got it, the man is Stephen King himself. The author tried to hide his feelings at first, but he was just so disappointed that he eventually let everything out.
The first thing he said about the movie is that Kubrick made it seem “very cold”. And while everybody praised Nicholson for the role, King thought Torrance had absolutely no arc in the movie.
In the book, Torrance is a struggling man who has problems with his sanity and goes crazy as the story progresses. But in the movie, you can see that he seems like a total psycho from the start. The fans seem to share this with the author of the original story.
“The film takes out a lot of the context of the book, including things that are very personal to King, especially Torrance's alcoholism. Yes it's literally in the film but it's so downplayed you could easily miss it, whereas in the book it's laid on with a trowel,” Redditor broncos4thewin said.
King also mentioned that The Shining looks terrific, but “it’s like a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it”. Well, if you want to fight the thought, it’s time to binge watch The Shining on Prime Video.
Sourсe: IndieWire