Stanley Kubrick’sThe Shiningis a masterclass of cinematic art and a defining chapter in the horror writing style in and of itself ( even ifStephen Kingthinks otherwise ) . Since its freeing in 1980,the filmhas become something of a ethnical milestone , with its iconic and terrific visuals being referenced in every aspect of pop mythology .
Everything from the creepy-crawly counterpart to the memorablerug decorhas become famous , but there is perhaps no range as directly appall as the elevator doors of the Overlook Hotel chess opening to let on a river of blood rushing down the halls . It ’s an range that has haunted the nightmare of many a filmgoer and was so impressive that the studio apartment focused the film ’s merchandising almost entirely around the slam .
Kubrick ’s longtime assistant , Leon Vitali , late revealed in an interview just how the shot was managed . " We spent weeks and week and weeks strain to get the tone and of the pedigree as raw as it could be , " the 70 - year - old movie maker toldYahoo ! .
" The consistency was also quite important , because we were pouring out hundreds of gallons of the stuff , " Vitali continued . " And then , of course , there were the grease monkey of it , because if you have that much pressure inside something likean lift , it ’s going to flub if you ’re not careful … I tell you , it play in a room we never thought it would work … It was such a tearing volume of this red liquid coming at you ; those of us who were in there thought , ‘ My God — we’re doing to drown ! ' "
Kubrick himselfwas apparently so anxious about the release guess that he helped manufacture the lift mechanism and positioned four television camera with different focuses and unlike frame rate , but leave the elbow room before the actual shot was done , ineffective to watch if something were to go wrong .
Miraculously , the shoot go off without a hitch and it became Kubrick ’s favored scene . He reportedly learn it over and over in glee afterwards .
