Scholars often refer to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) as a germinal example of psychological horror. Though this is an oversimplification, Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror that manipulates characters' fears and emotional instability in order to create tension and dread in viewers. In short, most films of this type focus on what is going on inside the mind of an often unstable character. And many of the characters in psychological horror films are decidedly archetypal, meaning they reflect the kinds of archaic patterns and images that derive from humanity's collective unconscious. You will see these characters explore or indulge in the kinds of behavior that most individuals work hard to suppress. They very often explore fears that can be easily understood by a wide range of individuals; in other words, it may be very easy for viewers to relate to the fears and anxieties embodied in psychological horror films. Discuss how you see The Shining fitting this definition of psychological horror? How does it compare to other horror films you've watched?
In The Shining, there are a variety of movie elements that showed psychological horror genre. Unlike any other horror movies that I have seen, I can connect to the characters in The Shining because I can only imagine the same situation to happen to me. If we look at other forms of horror films, they are those films that are obviously unreal but are still scary. Elements like lighting, shadows, costumes, settings, and the director’s portrayal of the characters in a typical horror film makes the audience feel scared therefore creating a higher tension and suspense. Also, other horror movies displays characteristics like bloody monsters or aliens that viewers cannot easily connect to.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, The Shining is different because the suspense that is building up through the movie the audience can easily relate to. Some of us believe in ghosts and haunted places. The Shining fits in to the category of psychological horror because what makes it scary is how the characters turned out to be after living in a haunted hotel. The idea of living in a hotel, so desolate of a place for about five months with nobody around but a family during a winter season is uncommon. Having that solitude and a long period of silence knowing that there had been a murder in the hotel where the family lived in is quite scary. If we look at Jack, he was perfectly fine when they first moved in to the hotel when business was still going. Right around the time when winter arrived and business was closed; he started writing and wanted quiet time. Psychologically, it seemed like Jack was possessed. We don’t quite understand how Jack became crazy but we can at least assume that it was the haunted hotel and the ghosts around there. As for Danny, he is our little psychic in the film. In reality, there are people out there who are mediums who can talk to ghosts or predict future events. We can connect to Danny’s emotions and fears through the things that he had seen in the hotel. Many also believe that a child can see what adults can’t see. Just imagining yourself stuck in a hotel that is haunted, your psychological mind will develop a sense of fear and more tension with the people and the place even though you don’t intend to do so, knowing the fact that the hotel is haunted. The imagination of things you see and sounds you hear are likely to occur in a place that is haunted.
The Shining is one of the top movies for horror film, but this film is different than any other horror film. This film is a psychological horror which plays with people emotions and real life fears. Horror films that people watch today are bloody, thrasher, and suspenseful. There are also movies that involve aliens, ghosts, and paranormal activity which this movie does touch on, but the scary parts are from the psychological crazy parts. What is scary about The Shining is the fact that they started out as a normal family have normal family issues. Jack is that father that likes to take care of business and provide for his family. Wendy is the mother that likes to take care of her family and shows great concern for both of the men in her life. Danny the son, has something special about him which the audience understands at the beginning of the movie when he talks to his finger. Once the family movies into the Standly Hotel alone for 5 months the family starts to fall apart. The audience can see through Danny’s eyes when they are at the hotel and Danny starts to see dead people and future events that happen. Then you have Jack who loved his wife and son, but starts to be mean to them. Jack is not himself and he himself starts to see the ghosts. The Standly hotel with all of its ghosts is driving Jack psycho and Danny is being tortured with having this “shining” quality because this child is seeing and being followed by the ghosts. The poor wife, Wendy, is going through so much with having her husband turn psycho; her son is not feeling well, and being completely isolated from society. With no one around, not knowing what jack is going to do, or the ghosts, the horror happens in the audience’s minds.
ReplyDeleteIn The Shining, there are many things which match this definition of psychological horror. Much of the film is spent building tension and dread in the viewers as we witness Jack going from a seemingly normal man to a clearly unhinged one. The Shining takes unconscious fear that society has about isolation, and runs with it. People don’t like being alone. Since we are social creatures, people who don’t hang out with others are viewed as strange and sometimes people presume that something is wrong with them. The shining takes that fear and uses Jack to represent it. Jack is alone aside from his family. It is because they are so alone that he goes crazy. One could also be tongue and cheek about it and say that it shows how family can drive someone nuts, but for the most part it is being alone which makes them so vulnerable. This is common in horror films. The story will have a group of people isolated from the rest of society and pit them against something that they either work together to face, or eventually succumb to in one form or another. In Jack’s case he goes insane. Films like this play on the fear of being alone and coming up against something which we don’t know how to handle. The Shining is different than may other films though, because we see how isolation is crazy. Typically, the baddie who goes around killing unsuspecting teenagers is already nuts. The audience doesn’t get to see them descending into madness. The Shining is scary because it gives the appearance that it could happen to anyone. You can look at an ax murderer on the screen and feel secure that you will never become that person. It’s harder to look at Jack going batty and convince yourself that is can’t happen to you. That’s what makes The Shining such an unsettling film, and what makes it quite the psychological horror.
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