It might be safe to say that no other Stephen King adaptation has been more widely — and passionately — discussed and debated than The Shining. Despite being selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," opinions are widely split on the merits of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of King's bestselling 1977 horror novel. Some consider it a classic, with praise given for its camera work, evocative imagery, and eerie vibe and score, while others have been quick to criticize it for its slow pace, lack of solid scares, and changes made to the characters, plot points, and ending of King's novel. Even King himself hasn't been shy about his dissatisfaction with the adaptation:
“I think The Shining is a beautiful film, and it looks terrific and as I’ve said before, it’s like a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it. In that sense, when it opened, a lot of the reviews weren’t very favorable, and I was one of those reviewers. I kept my mouth shut at the time, but I didn’t care for it much.”
Whichever side you fall on, there's no doubt that the film takes great liberties with its source material. The basic premise is the same across both versions, with writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) taking his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), to Colorado's Overlook Hotel where he has taken a job as the hotel's caretaker during the winter months. At first, it seems to be a great opportunity for the family — that is, until Danny begins to become aware of his telepathic abilities ("the shine") as well as experiencing horrifying visions tied to the hotel's dark past. But he's not the only one who's affected by the Overlook's sinister secrets. As Jack's writers block intensifies and the ghosts of the Overlook begin to make themselves known, Jack begins to lose his grip on reality, putting himself and his family at risk.
While there are elements in both the book and film that are similar, the endings of each are fairly different from each other. From the setting of the climax, to the fate of the Overlook, to the book's epilogue that isn't present in the film, there's plenty to separate Kubrick's ending from King's. Wondering just how much both versions diverge from one another? Let's break it down.
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The Novel's Ending
As an Overlook-possessed Jack chases Danny throughout the hotel, he briefly regains control of himself and his humanity long enough to implore his son to run away while he can. But it's not long before the Overlook takes permanent control of Jack's body and mind. Danny attempts to thwart the entity possessing his father by warning it about the need to relieve the building pressure in the hotel's boiler room (one of Jack's recurring duties as caretaker), and Danny uses it as a chance to flee.
The entity possessing Jack travels to the basement to relieve the boiler's pressure, but it's too late. The building pressure causes the old boiler to explode, killing Jack in the process as the hotel burns to the ground. Danny, Wendy, and Overlook chef Dick Hallorann (who also possesses "the shine") are able to narrowly escape, physically okay but no doubt mentally scarred from the ordeal they've just survived.
In an epilogue set the following summer, Hallorann (who has since moved to Maine) comforts Danny about his father's death while Wendy recuperates from her injuries caused by her husband's rampage. It's a nice wrap-up that brings closure to the characters' stories (until Doctor Sleep, that is) while also giving readers a chance to breathe and decompress after the novel's rollercoaster of a climax. The film's ending, while staying true to Danny and Wendy's fates, is slightly more dour.
The Film's Ending
Jack still pursues Danny and Wendy (though with an axe instead of a roquet mallet) through the hotel. Wendy manages to escape after fighting him off, but Jack is successful in murdering Hallorann and continues to pursue Danny through the Overlook’s outdoor hedge maze. Despite his father’s pursuit, Danny is able to hide behind a snowdrift while Jack follows the decoy trail that Danny made in the snow. Danny takes advantage of his father's confusion and is able to flee the maze as he reunites with his mother. Together, they hop into Hallorann's snowcat and leave Jack — and the Overlook — behind. As they leave, we see that Jack has frozen to death on the snowy floor of the hedge maze. With his wide eyes and lips twisted into a grimace, his expression is permanently (and literally) frozen into one of pain and vengeance.
In the film's closing moments, the camera zooms in to wall of the Overlook's Gold Room. It's covered in black-and-white photographs of hotel party guests from years past. But one particular photo stands out from the rest. In it is a group of partygoers dressed in their Sunday best. And who's down in the front, looking miraculously young and vivacious? Why, it's none other than Jack Torrance, happier than we've ever seen him. Below him is a caption with the date of July 4th, 1921, revealing that Jack has now become a permanent part of the hotel...both its past — and its future. As the ghost of prior Overlook caretaker Delbert Grady says to Jack earlier in the film, "You've always been the caretaker."
What Are the Big Differences?
For starters, the way Jack meets his fate vastly differs in both versions of the story. He's blown to smithereens when the Overlook's boiler blows in the novel (which doesn't happen in the film). Instead, Kubrick has him freeze to death following his nightmare-inducing pursuit of Danny in the hedge maze. But that's not the only change made to Jack's character during the jump from book to screen.
Jack's descent into madness is much more subtle and more expertly crafted in the novel. When we're introduced to Jack, we're aware of his writer's block, the pressures he's under to provide for his family, as well as his struggle with alcoholism. He starts the story as good man who means to do right by his family but the Overlook's ghosts and isolated setting, combined with Jack's own sense of inferiority, cause him to slowly lose his grip on reality. As Jack tries to fight off the dark forces plaguing him, we're able to sympathize with him because we see the deep, horrific struggle he's going through. It's much less subtle in the film, where Jack starts as someone who has already lost his grip on reality and only gets crazier as the film progresses. As Stephen King himself put it, "Jack Torrance has no arc in that movie. Absolutely no arc at all. When we first see Jack Nicholson...you know, then, he’s crazy as a shithouse rat."
Hallorann's fate is another big change. In the novel, he survives to comfort Danny and Wendy, and live a happy, productive life. He's a warm, protective presence whose light cuts through much of the novel's darkness. In the film, however, Jack succeeds in brutally murdering him before he can lend a helping hand to Danny and Wendy. It's a plot change that's pretty grim, but works in the film's favor to show just how far off the deep end Jack has gone.
The novel's animal topiary garden is also replaced with the film's hedge maze (due to special effects constraints with bringing them to life), and some of the film's more notable moments that have left a lasting mark on pop culture ("All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and "Here's Johnny!" among others) were created solely for the film.
Whether in the novel's masterful character development and intense terror, or the film's eerie atmosphere, memorable images, and stellar cinematography, there's plenty of differences that separate the film from its source material. After all, different mediums and creative intentions yield different results. However, both have managed to succeed in standing the test of time and sparking conversation decades after they were first released. And the importance of their legacy might just be something that King and Kubrick would agree on.
