Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The Shining: Ending Scene
The ending scene of The Shining was extremely scary and entertaining at the same time. At this point Jack has completely lost his mind and it is evident through many ways. Before the ending part where Wendy finds Jack's writing of "hard work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" typed over and over again across the page it is un clear whether Jack has gone completely insane. After this scene it is very clear. I thought the huffing and puffing scene where Jack is saying he is going to knock the door down if Wendy doesn't let him in is one if not the best scene in the movie. My eyes were glued to the screen. The suspense of Wendy not being able to squeeze through the window was unbearable. The best shot of the whole movie was Jack's face in the door when he says "hear comes Johnny". I can definietly see why that scene has become so famous with the movie critics. The close- up shot of his face is the true face of a maniac. It also added some comic relief to an otherwise extremely suspenseful crazy scene. At that moment I totally thought he was going to get to Wendy, I was shocked when they both Wendy and Danny ended up ok. Usually scary movies end in a bad way that has the viewer scared all night but with The Shining you got a sense of happiness knowing the good guys made it out ok. I liked that part of it a lot. Overall, I loved the movie and totally see why it is one of the best horror movies ever.
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I agree with this post, especially pertaining to the excellence and suspense found in the bathroom scene. The bathroom shot is one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, and the ironic part is that an iconic phrase is used in the very same scene. When Jack sticks his face through the door and says "Here's Johnny", he references the intro given by Johnny Carson on his nightly talk show, "The Johnny Carson Show". It's just interesting to see how they took that greeting, and molded it in so well into the film, that it became something more frightening than an introductory greeting. And what's even more ironic is that this scene of him axing through the door and parodying Johnny Carson's greeting, is frequently parodied by other television shows and movies as well. They are parodies of parodies.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that it's been pointed out, you do have a point about the Shining having a more or less happy ending. It isn't that usual for horror films to have a sort-of pleasant ending, and with the situation that Wendy and Danny were in, you really wouldn't have expected it to end as it did. And surprisingly, for all the attempted murder, only one man was killed, and the other died in a bloodless way. The deaths in this movie (aside from that of the Gradys, the previous caretakers) were disturbing, but not really violent. In fact, the one person who was murdered was only struck with the axe once, and that was the end of that scene.