„It Was Just a Giant Failure”. Clint Eastwood Hates the Classic Horror Movie That Steven Spielberg Loves and Has Seen 25 Times

As a seasoned gamer and cinephile with decades of film-watching under my belt, I must say that I find Clint Eastwood’s views on The Shining quite intriguing. Having grown up watching his iconic western films, I never thought I’d see the day when he’d be criticizing one of cinema’s most revered horror classics.


Clint Eastwood is widely recognized as a cinematic titan. He’s got experience working in various roles, from acting on set to directing behind it, giving him a deep understanding of filmmaking as a whole. He’s not shy about sharing his thoughts on both his own projects and other movies, including the iconic film “The Shining“, which has achieved cult status despite its author disliking the movie due to changes made during Stanley Kubrick’s production process.

In a conversation with SlashFilm, Eastwood himself expressed disdain for this film, labeling it as a “monumental flop.” Moreover, he didn’t find the movie’s tagline amusing, and even went as far as saying that Kubrick’s horror production was not at all frightening.

The other day, I made a jest because Kubrick had written that tagline on the movie poster: “A masterpiece of modern horror.” Even some studio executives suggested, “Stanley, perhaps you should wait for a critic to put that tagline on your film, as it might seem a bit presumptuous of you.” However, this suggestion was overruled, and he went ahead with it. During our discussion about ads for Any Which Way You Can, I proposed, “Maybe we should call it ‘a masterpiece in modern comedy and adventure.’

If a new director had been in charge, it likely would not have lasted long in the building, given its catastrophic outcome. In essence, it was an abysmal failure. The most compelling evidence of this is that there was nothing remotely frightening about it. To illustrate, the scene involving the ax, where Scat [Crothers] was to be hit with it, felt as lifeless as a corpse.

„It Was Just a Giant Failure”. Clint Eastwood Hates the Classic Horror Movie That Steven Spielberg Loves and Has Seen 25 Times

The poster that Clint Eastwood was talking about | The Shining, Stanley Kubrick, Warner Bros., 1980

Eastwood maintained strong opinions regarding “The Shining,” a movie that another renowned director, Steven Spielberg, initially doubted but grew to appreciate more with every viewing. Now, Spielberg admires “The Shining” deeply (as shared in Academic Studies Press).

Initially, I wasn’t fond of “The Shining” when I watched it for the first time. However, after viewing it a total of 25 times, it has become one of my all-time favorite movies. Stanley Kubrick’s films often require multiple viewings to fully appreciate their depth and complexity.

It might be that Eastwood doesn’t have extensive viewing experience with the film, “The Shining,” which could explain his critical perspective towards it.

Read More

2024-11-05 21:01