The Shining Has One of the Greatest Endings in Horror

The Shining is one of the greatest horror films ever made, despite the controversial production and Stephen King’s major dislike of the film, I can see why it has a huge fanbase from horror fans. Stanley Kubrick’s films always hold a hidden mystery behind the scenes, and The Shining cleverly keeps the main threat of the hotel a complete secret, leaving the audience wondering if the ghosts are actually real, or if the father in the movie is truly losing his mind. 

Then we get a scary ending, one that answers a burning question about whether the ghosts are real or not. 

Jack Torrance is a writer, who decides to become a caretaker during the winter, to hopefully cure his writer’s block. From the start, we learn that Jack once harmed his own son, Danny, and this is confirmed by his wife, named Wendy. The film purposely throws this clue in, making the audience wonder if Jack is just crazy during the rest of the film. Jack slowly loses his mind, starts talking to people that aren’t there, while Wendy and Danny are left to fend for themselves against ghosts. 

The ghosts in this film are seriously so damn scary. It’s rare for me to get scared of ghost stories, but with this movie, the ghosts feel like they don’t belong in the hotel. They feel like evil entities from another world, and every time they interact with the family, it feels like something sinister is about to take place. I will never forget the scene when Wendy spots two ghosts in a bedroom. One of them was dressed like a dog, in a bit of a sexual position with a random guy in a suit, and they both just stare at Wendy, as she has a panic attack. 

That scene scarred me the first time I saw the movie. It’s so unnatural, and it felt so out of place, and the thought of finding two strangers doing something sexual, only to stare at you without saying a single word is genuinely so damn creepy. 

The ghosts decide to mostly target Jack, knowing that they can use him to possibly murder his entire family with an axe. Danny is able to help his mother get away from a possibly possessed Jack, (I don’t think it’s ever actually confirmed if he got possessed or not, but it could also be extreme manipulation at the hands of the ghosts). 

Danny and Wendy luckily escape through a frozen maze, and then we cut back to Jack, who froze to death in the maze while going after his family. It’s a pretty shocking death reveal, but it made sense for the film to kill off Jack, because he was too far gone. His death is far bloodier in the book, plus, he straight up ends his life in front of his poor son, but I do appreciate how eerie his death is in the movie. The lack of blood made the film even creepier, and it was executed so damn well. 

Then we get to the strange ending. 

There is a single photo of all of the guests in the Overlook Hotel, and we can clearly see Jack Torrance, standing in front of the entire crowd, a smile on his face. 

I believe that whoever dies in the Overlook Hotel, becomes part of the odd world of the ghosts, and now Jack Torrance is one of the few unfortunate souls that is now trapped with them. Any other filmmaker would have shown Jack literally becoming a ghost and interacting with them, but Stanley Kubrick just showed a single photo of Jack suddenly back in 1921 with a bunch of strangers, and it sends chills down your back. 

It’s the perfect ending to an eerie film like this, and it’s one of my favorite endings to a horror movie. 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn