Synopsis

After the box office failure of Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick decided to embark on a project that might have more commercial appeal. The Shining, Stephen King’s biggest critical and commercial success yet, seemed like a perfect vehicle. After an arduous production, Kubrick’s film received a wide release in the summer of 1980; the reviews were mixed, but the box office, after a slow start, eventually picked up. End of story? Hardly. In the 30 years since the film’s release, a considerable cult of Shining devotees has emerged, fans who claim to have decoded the film’s secret messages addressing everything from the genocide of Native Americans to a range of government conspiracies. Rodney Ascher’s wry and provocative Room 237 fuses fact and fiction through interviews with cultists and scholars, creating a kaleidoscopic deconstruction of Kubrick’s still-controversial classic.

Official Review

Horror fans are obsessive by nature. We almost have to be. Horror is a genre that’s practically built on hidden references. For instance, virtually all of the characters in 1986’s Night of the Creeps are named after famous horror directors. And if you don’t know what David Cronenberg looks like, you miss a perfect high-five opportunity when he briefly appears as a gynecologist in 1986’s The Fly. Horror references are looping and perpetual, a hidden language that only die-hard fans are able to speak and understand. A casual fan can enjoy a horror movie on a surface level, but when the references start trickling in, he’s like a child eating dinner at the grown-up table––loving the atmosphere, but missing all the subtle sexual puns. …Read More