Review of The Shining (1980) by Lexi W — 19 Apr 2016

Anyone can see that villains have become the 'New Heroes' in today's cinema. Although the villains are supposed to be the bad guy, there are many example of where they are actually the hero such as in 'The Shining'.Why are filmmakers able to successfully use villains as the hero? There are certain things you expect to see when you go see a horror film. One reason we see horror movies is to be scared while another is to be entertained. However, there is another reason that most don't realize, and that is that we all want the resolution at the end.

A common resolution is the hero defeats the villain, or the villain dies, or something along those lines. We crave that happy ending because we want a happy ending in our own lives and when a movie doesn't give that to us, it affects the way we view the movie. Most movies are about the hero, and the story of the hero and how they defeat the villain and save everyone. The films I'm looking at though don't follow that criteria. In some movies there are no heroes and we get the story of the villain. And most importantly, in some of these horror movies there is no resolution at all.

One of the best examples is Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. In this movie we get the story of Jack Torrance. Torrance lands a job watching over a Overlook hotel, while hoping to overcome his writer's block. Over the course of the film, we slowly watch his descent into madness. He slowly becomes insane and eventually sets out to terrorize his family. There is no resolution at the end of this movie.