SOURCE: “Understanding Kubrick: The Shining,” in Journal of Popular Film and Television, Vol. IX, No. 2, Summer, 1981, pp. 93-5.

In the following essay, Macklin elucidates the reasons for the commercial failure of The Shining and offers perceptions that will allow viewers to enjoy Kubrick's films.

The Shining met the fate of several other Stanley Kubrick films when it came out; most viewers did not like it, so they rejected it. Most importantly, they did not understand it in any way which allowed them to deal with it constructively. Also, the criticism it received did not clarify the film. It remained obscure and confusing to its viewers.

It failed with most viewers for two basic reasons. It was not the same as Stephen King's novel, and it was not terrifying in the conventional way a horror film is supposed to be. So lacking the model of the novel or the...