Gunther Heinrich The Shining

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a seminal work in the horror genre. While many horror movies relate to fast and cheap tricks, The Shining takes its time to build up the horror and the unsetting feeling not only by the character's actions but also by the surroundings. It's known that Stephen King, who wrote the original novel, didn't like the result, as it (among other things) lacked the supernatural. In my eyes, though, Kubrick's decision was absolutely correct. By focusing the plot development on humans, The Shining is increasing the horror many times because we all are humans and know what they are capable of.

One of the well known original movie posters shows Jack Nicholson's character from the famous scene in which he looks through the broken door. While that's an effective way to sell the movie and the horror of Nicholson, I always thought that it lacked some "elegance". One reason is that it jumps to the end of the road and the movie. It doesn't focus on the way to madness. What is surprising about all this is the fact that the movie itself offers a perfect symbolism for the increasing madness of Jack Torrance: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." - the proverb Torrance endlessly repeats in his manuscript. As a result all movie posters I created (and possibly will create) for The Shining use or focus on this particular element. In one version I use the repetition of the proverb and a glowing red aura to convey the madness growing inside the character. In another version I use a typewriter like page in which the letters aren't black but soaked red by blood to symbolize the madness.