WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Shining.
More than 40 years after its release, The Shining remains one of the scariest and most quotable horror movies ever made. Often regarded as a pioneering effort in the art-house horror movement that has come to define many modern releases in the genre, The Shining paved the way for increased narrative innovation and intellectual stimulation of horror at large. While Stanley Kubrick’s film altered several aspects of Stephen King’s novel, the acclaimed filmmaker, along with lead actors Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson, were able to create an original and captivating horror story in their own right.
Many iconic details in The Shining were crafted just before shooting or were completely improvised, including Jack Nicholson throwing a tennis ball and his most famous line in the movie while he’s destroying a door with an ax. Kubrick was a known perfectionist and demanded a lot from his cast and crew, notorious for his multiple retakes until finally captured the perfect shot. For example, it took roughly 50 takes for Kubrick to achieve his vision of the tennis ball rolling at Danny. Both Duvall and Nicholson were reportedly exhausted by the filming process, but their collective efforts resulted in one of the most brilliant horror movies ever made.
10 “Come Play With Us, Danny.”
Danny’s ability to “shine” quickly becomes nightmarish once he moves into the Overlook Hotel with his parents. Danny begins to see visions such as the iconic river of blood in the hallways coming out of the elevators, which remarkably was achieved in three takes despite taking a year to execute. Danny also saw the ghostly reincarnation of the Grady twins, daughters of Delbert Grady who previously killed his family and died by suicide while living at the hotel. The strange invitation from the Grady sisters implies that they are more than just hauntings of the young boy’s mind and are spiritually attached to the hotel itself.
9 “Wendy, I’m Home!”
As Jack begins to truly descend into madness as if transfixed by a dark spell, he sinisterly makes a reference to the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy as he smashes a door with an ax. The line “Honey, I’m home!” was often used in I Love Lucy as a term of endearment but was said sardonically by Jack as he attempted to murder his wife. It’s one of the most memorable lines in the most famous and arguably most terrifying scene of The Shining that features a point of no return for Jack and the authentically horrified response from Duvall’s Wendy.
8 “Hi, Lloyd. A Little Slow Tonight, Isn’t It?”
When The Shining introduces Lloyd for the first time in the film, he seemingly appears as a ghost behind the bar. Jack’s first words to Lloyd initially reveal that Jack is beginning to see and speak with entities that aren’t actually there but are really extensions of the haunted Overlook Hotel. Jack’s coy introductory question to Lloyd offers a glimpse into the cracks of his exterior shell that are beginning to further break. The cold and skeletal Lloyd appears accommodating but truly is gently encouraging Jack to proceed with the dark intentions that make up the third act of the film.
7 “Danny, I’m Coming!”
As the last part of Jack’s humanity drains from his character during the maze chase scene, he yells out to his son as if he were going to protect Danny from the very danger that he is presenting. Nicholson’s delivery of “Danny, I’m coming!” is spot on, masterfully twisting the seemingly protective words with a dark and primitive threatening nature. As Danny runs through the snowy hedge maze, the limping and increasingly decrepit Jack eventually reduces to animalistic grunting. Despite the brilliance of Kubrick, it’s scenes like this that make The Shining unthinkable without Nicholson’s performance.
6 “Danny’s Not Here, Mrs. Torrence.”
Danny’s character was introduced in The Shining as having an imaginary friend which at first seems relatively harmless. Eventually, the audience begins to realize that the imaginary Tony might not be so imaginary and is actually some type of spiritual or ghostly messenger. Tony’s most disturbing line in the film comes when he apparently completely takes over Danny’s mind and body, eerily telling Wendy that her son is “not here” in one of the strangest twists of The Shining.
5 “Some Places Are Like People: Some Shine And Some Don’t.”
The concept of what “shining” means in the film is briefly explained in the first act, in which Dick Hallorann explains to Danny that some people have the ability to shine and some people do not. The term “shining” as described in both Kubrick’s film and King’s novel refers to Dick and Danny’s mutual talent to perceive things in a psychic realm as well as communicate telepathically. Danny’s ability to “shine” is what informs a lot of his haunted visions of the Overlook Hotel and the fate of his father Jack and is how Dick figures out that something is terribly wrong.
4 “You Have Always Been The Caretaker.”
One of the biggest twists in The Shining is when the ghost of Delbert Grady has a conversation with Jack Torrence, reminding him that Jack has always been the caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. This scene is a critical factor in the various interpretations of The Shining as a whole and has sparked much debate. Some viewers believe that Delbert is telling the truth that Jack had truly been the caretaker all those years, while others think that as the last person to kill his family at the Overlook, Delbert is lying and sinisterly passing on the idea that Jack has always been the caretaker, thus assuming the all the responsibilities of that role.
3 “All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy.”
While this quote only appears in the written form in The Shining, it is easily one of the most memorable lines in the entire film. To her horror, Wendy discovers that during the time that she, Jack, and Danny have been living at the Overlook Hotel, Jack hadn’t actually been working on his writing but instead had been repetitively typing the same line over and over. “All work and no play makes Jack a full boy,” is written in several formats on dozens of pages, the first true sign that Jack has descended into an unstable and potentially dangerous place.
2 “Redrum! Redrum! Redrum!”
Danny yells “Redrum!” over and over through his strange raspy Tony voice, which is discovered to be “Murder!” in reverse. Although Tony could clearly speak through Danny in plain English, Danny’s alter-ego repeatedly says “Murder” backward for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. Looking at “Redrum!” through a mirror reveals what it actually means, a caution against the immediate threat of Jack and his impending ax. Everyone who has seen The Shining knows the iconic “Redrum!” line as the most popular catchphrase from the film.
1 “Here’s Johnny!”
The best quote in The Shining was completely improvised by Jack Nicholson, referencing the popular late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Kubrick, being British, wasn’t familiar with the American late-night show and didn’t understand the reference that would become one of the most legendary horror movie quotes of all time. In fact, Kubrick nearly cut the line from his final cut of The Shining because he didn’t understand the darkly comedic brilliance of the line when Nicholson first offered it during production.
