Stephen King may well have hated what iconic director Stanley Kubrick did to his novel, but the rest of the world disagrees with him pretty intensely. The Shining has gone down in history as one of the most iconic works of cinema ever, and it’s easy to see why. The cinematography, acting, and script are all masterful, coming together to form a film full of tension and horror.
No film can be perfect, though, and Kubrick wasn’t able to keep a lid on every continuity error. As such, there are a fair few. We’ve listed ten below.
Jack Gets His Own Sobriety Wrong
One of the biggest questions people ask about The Shining is whether or not it was Jack’s alcoholism that was causing his breakdown. Were there really ghosts, or was it all in his mind? Whether or not that was the case, it was a major part of his life and an important thing through which his character was shaped.
When he is talking to Lloyd, Jack sarcastically celebrates his sobriety: “five miserable months." However, the family had been there for a month by this point, so, unless he had started drinking again much earlier than the film shows, then it would actually be approaching six months sober.
The Moving Pen
When Jack is first accepting his new job as a caretaker at the Overlook, he meets with the manager, Stuart Ullman. While the two talk, there is a pen wandering around the table in every shot.
It starts off in one place when Jack is in frame before changing as soon as the camera angle does. Later on in the scene, it finds new positions, changing in a pattern that doesn’t even make much sense. How many times did they have to film this scene?
Daughter Or Daughters?
When Jack is talking to the ghost of Delbert Grady, he asks him, “you killed your wife and daughter?” We, and Jack and Grady, know that he actually killed both of his daughters. They’re the creepy ones chanting to Danny to “come play with us” all the time. Why is it that Jack is unable to remember such an important detail, even though he knows it for a fact and correctly said “daughters” just a few seconds earlier?
Futuristic Blood
One of the more tragic scenes in The Shining comes when Halloran is killed by Jack Torrance. He journeys across the country to save Danny from the horrors of the hotel but is met with a swift ax to the back within just a few seconds of arriving.
However, if you take a slow, close look at the shot, you’ll see that the scene doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The blood begins to flow from Halloran’s chest before he is actually hit with anything, suggesting that whatever he was using to simulate blood was activated slightly too early.
The Maze Isn’t Present At First
Despite the maze being a very key part of the film (though it doesn’t exist in the book) and clearly quite close to the hotel, it obviously isn’t there in real life. When we see a shot looking down on the landscape towards the start of the film, there is no maze in sight. You’d think they’d want to keep its very existence consistent, considering the entire ending of the film very prominently takes place within the twisting hedges.
Halloran’s Flawed Shine
One continuity error of The Shining doubles up as a massive plot hole. Halloran has enough ‘shining’ to be able to sense that Danny Torrance needs help, as well as a multitude of other things he uses it for. This power conveniently disappears when he needs to die, because Jack is able to ax him in the back without Halloran having any idea of it. If he had the shining like he said he did earlier on, then he should have known and been able to avoid his fate.
Returning Page
As Jack’s mental state becomes more and more aggressive, he starts to lash out at Wendy over and over again. One of the first examples of his difficult temper comes when she checks on him in the lobby as he writes.
He tears a page out of his typewriter, never putting it back in again because he is too busy shouting at Wendy (who just came to see how he was). When he turns back to continue writing, there is a blank page ready and waiting for him. Ghostly intervention?
The Changes In The Manager’s Office
The manager’s office in which the film begins its story is the location of two errors in continuity. When Wendy goes in there earlier on in the film to use the radio, there isn’t a nameplate (Stuart Ullman) on the desk, but, when Jack goes back to break the same radio, it is right back where it was during the interview. In the same scene, a light switch has appeared on the wall that wasn’t there the first time Jack went in.
The Flaw In The Iconic Scene
The ‘here’s Johnny’ scene is unquestionably the most iconic scene in The Shining. It appears on the cover of the DVD and has been endlessly quoted for years and years since the film was released back in 1980.
However, when Jack first smashed through the door with the ax, only one small section breaks, and he shoves his head into it. When the shot changes and we see him run back out, there are two panels missing.
There Is No Reason For Jack To Freeze
During the final scene in which Jack rampages through the maze looking for Danny and Wendy, there isn’t much of an attempt made to match the weather conditions to their effect. If it was cold enough to literally freeze Jack solid overnight, then there would definitely be steam coming from the mouths of the characters. It also just doesn’t look that cold, with the snow on the ground obviously not being real.
