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Stephen King’sThe Shiningis all the proof you need to accept the fact that words on a page can haunt you for days. The timeless horror novel had readers sweating with dread and anticipation yet they couldn’t stop and the pages kept turning. When Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation came out, it impressed Steven Spielberg to the point where he watched it about 25 times. On the other hand, Clint Eastwood was not a fan.
This stark difference between the reception by two exquisite personalities of the entertainment industry resembles the mixed reviews received byThe Shining(1980). In fact, Clint Eastwood even went as far as to call it a giant failure that’s not terrifying at all.
Clint Eastwood Pokes Fun atThe Shining’s Poster
Stanley Kubrick’sThe Shiningkept us up for nights and we have both the director andJack Nicholsonto thank for that. The film has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 83% and the critical consensus calls it a“chilling, often baroque journey into madness.”However,Clint Eastwoodwould beg to differ.
“He saw right through me”: Stanley Kubrick’s Blunt Response to Steven Spielberg’s Greatest Criticism About ‘The Shining’ Made the Latter Reconsider His Opinions
In one of his earlier interviews reprinted inConversations with Clint:Paul Nelson’s Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979-1983,we can find the connoisseur of the Western genre taking a dig atThe Shining.Let’s just say he held no punches back.
He first ridiculed Kubrick for printing a tagline on the film’s poster which read,“A Masterpiece of Modern Horror.”
He mentioned that even though some executives were against the idea, the director went ahead and did it anyway, obviously very confident in himself.
I was joking the other day because Kubrick had put that byline on the movie poster: ‘A masterpiece of modern horror.’ Even some of the execs at the studio said, ‘Stanley, maybe you better wait and let some reviewer stick that byline on the film, because it might be considered a little forward of you to do it.’ Evidently that got overruled and he just went ahead and did it.
While working onAny Which Way you may(1980),Eastwood joked, taking a hit at Kubrick’s poster,
We were talking about ads for ‘Any Which Way You Can.’ I said, ‘Well, maybe we should call it ‘a masterpiece in modern comedy and adventure.’
So, what were Eastwood’s views on the film that terrified a good majority of its viewers? Well, he couldn’t care less about it.
Clint Eastwood Didn’t Find the Film Scary
WhenThe Shiningwas shown at the Warner Bros. lot, Eastwood recalled how practically no one found it scary. He even stated that if Kubrick had not been the director and instead someone new had taken the mantle, the film would have been shut down.
“I always felt that the Kubrick film was rather cold”: Stephen King’s Criticism of Jack Nicholson’s The Shining Will Really Stress the OG Fans Out
In his own words,“If it had been a new director, they would’ve bombed it right out of the building.”If you quickly Google the top scariest films of all time, you will most definitely findThe Shiningon the list. However, if it was up to Eastwood, the film would have been nowhere close to the list.
In fact, he even called it a giant failure stating,
It was just a giant failure. The greatest example in the picture is that there just wasn’t anything at all terrifying about it. That axe scene, coming in with the axe to hit Scat [Crothers], it’s dead as a d***.
Clearly, saying that Eastwood wasn’t a fan would be an understatement. On the other hand,Steven Spielbergcouldn’t stop raving about the masterpiece andstated,
I didn’t love ‘The Shining’ the first time I saw it. I have since seen The Shining 25 times. It’s one of my favorite pictures. Kubrick films tend to grow on you, you have to see them more than once.
Well, maybe Eastwood just has to watch the horror flick a couple more times to truly get the vibes.
The Shiningis available to watch on Max.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2257
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you can find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
