Viewers of The Shining have spotted an ‘unsettling’ psychological trick used in the film that puts you on edge without even realising.
The film, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, is based on a classic Stephen King novel and is widely considered one of the best horror films of all time.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick, it follows Nicholson as Jack Torrance, alongside Duvall as his wife Wendy, living at a hotel as a winter caretaker when supernatural events begin to spook them.
Released in 1980, it sits at a whopping 8.4 on IMDb, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 83%, and was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation due to it being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ in 2018.
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That said, fans are still noticing new things about the film to this day. One viewer took to X to remark on a unique detail about the film.
They pointed out the fact that, throughout the movie, Jack Nicholson repeatedly looks directly into the camera. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments are littered throughout the movie.
Generally actors try as hard as they can to not look directly into the camera and Nicholson only ever does it momentarily.
A YouTuber made a video essay about how this unsettles the audience without them even realising since it’s only for very quick moments.
One top comment on the video summarised the reason it is so effective, saying: “Shortly before making The Shining, Kubrick was studying the effects of subliminal images.
“The fact that Nicholson is making eye contact for just a frame or two is likely a way to subliminally unsettled the audience.
“In fact, the entire design of the movie's set was created to make no sense all to unsettle the audience without them consciously knowing why they were creeped out.
“This fits with Kubrick's innovative approach to horror.”
Others have suggested that, by Jack looking directly into the camera, it is intended to make audiences feel like they will be next in his reign of terror.
One suggestion of why this is done however leads to a horrifying theory that directly involves the audience in the film.
Throughout the film, Jack goes progressively more and more crazy until the insane climax of the film.
This led one viewer to suggest that his looks in the camera are him becoming aware of himself being watched.
They said: “As he loses his mind, he begins to hallucinate people watching his every move - we’re those people.”
Regardless of whatever you believe of the various moments where he looks directly at the camera, one thing is for sure – it’s creepy as f*ck and once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
The Shining is available to rent or buy at the Apple TV+ store.
Topics: TV and Film, Film, Horror
Michael Slavin