The Shining

This week, we watched the film The Shining by Stanley Kubrick (Based on the novel by Stephen King), and read two chapters out of Barbara Creed's Men, Women, and Chainsaws. Kubrick's film in many ways differs from the typical horror fare that Creed usually refers to in her book. Most of the works discussed would likely be classified as "low" horror, which for much of film history was deemed unworthy of academic discussion due to its seemingly "obvious" mechanisms of action. The Shining, however, is a critically acclaimed film made by an established auteur in Stanley Kubrick. It would follow, then, that we may expect the film to be a little less lacking in subtlety, and may have a "bottom line" that is a little less readily apparent.

This "bottom line", Creed asserts, is present in all film (and it may well be extrapolated to all art). "If mainstream film detains us with niceties of plot, character, motivation , cinematography, pacing, acting, and the like, low or exploitation horror operates at the bottom line, and in doing so reminds us that every movie has a bottom line, no matter how covert or mystified or sublimated it may be." Low horror, in essence, cuts to the chase. This observation certainly opens up some interesting potential dialogues. How would those that deride this sort of "low" cinema respond to the claim that these films simply strip away the unnecessary "niceties" that mainstream cinema has preoccupied itself with? 

Low horror is certainly formulaic, and no attempt is made to hide that fact. As Creed asserts, in horror, sequels are essentially remakes. I was reminded of the earlier reading we did on excess when Creed compared the genre to pornography: "The "art" of the horror film, like the "art" of pornography, is to a very large extent the art of rendition or performance, and it is understood as such by the competent audience." Horror viewers, like pornography viewers, know exactly what they are going to get going in, and they like it that way. Perhaps the same could be said for melodrama if Linda Williams' assertions about "low body genres" hold up to scrutiny. 

To search for the art in horror is not to search for "originality" and "artistry," but rather to "...search for what is stable and repeated...". The Shining flies somewhat in the face of this notion, if it is to be considered a horror film. But few would consider this film a true "low" horror film. Though it borrows some tropes and conventions from the genre, there are certainly many elements of what one might call "artistry," originality," and other things that one would not expect to find much of in the typical slasher. In many ways, The Shining could be considered to exist altogether outside of the framework Barbara Creed discusses. However, the influence it draws from it cannot be overlooked.