Stephen King is an idiot

Agree with the OP.

And the fact that King can't even see that THE SHINING film was scary says a great deal about his own perspectives on horror. Kubrick wanted to disturb people, and he certainly did. I can almost imagine Kubrick purposely changing details with the intent to piss off the general public. The entire premise is completely based on surrealism, and the paranormal. So why are so many people offended at one director's interpretation of fantastic events?

And why - this film?
(Because it is King's personal vendetta. He slams repeatedly how wrong certain actors/behaviors were, but COMPLETELY lost the surrealism and evil overpowering center of The Overlook Hotel, with his own attempt.)

The visionary master director discards a screenplay from the "master of horror," and hires another gothic novelist instead. A King you aren't.

If you really want to see how "good" King's rejected screenplay was, then watch the miniseries.

You might just need that same alcohol that Jack couldn't have, though - just to get through it.
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Kubrick's film - will always be the definitive version of The Shining.

King surely must have known that Kubrick was going to do his own thing.

Oh look here you are again the big Kubrick/Shinning fan chatting out of your arse.

Stephen King fan boy, go the fk away, and write about Deck The Halls. That seems to be your level, Shlep.

The Caretaker

I think The Shining was just a very personal story to Stephen King about his own struggles with alcoholism and his family life and he that Kubrick didn't focus on that aspect of it.

[deleted]

But the book is still well regarded...

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

King writes the books, so he gets a mental picture of a movie when he is writing it. I think Kubrick did great but I think King just had something else in his head that didn't jive with Kubricks vision. King is also a little strange obviously so you probably are not going to get any straight rational thoughts from him when someone doesn't make a movie as he invisioned it.

The guy still wrote this *beep* story. Have a little respect.

And many authors in the past have had their famous literary works changed for the film version. What is written does not always work on film.

Most of the iconic images or sequences in THE SHINING were invented by Kubrick/Johnson. Or Jack Nicholson. Or even Garrett Brown with the Steadicam.

What is truly stupid is to suggest that Kubrick merely filmed King's original plot elements verbatim from the novel. Kubrick improved upon many things, especially when compared to that widely-disavowed abomination called the miniseries. And that later disaster lies squarely at King's feet.

Some of Kubrick's numerous changes were:

1) Using an existing hotel on a mountaintop to reinforce the isolation and treacherous winter road conditions.
2) Not relying on the Stanley Hotel's actual interiors, and creating conflicting interiors solely for the film that are much more vast and ominous.
3) Ullman is now extremely friendly and even compliments Jack in his interview.
4) The elevator door with a torrent of blood forcing its way out.
5) The Grady daughter ghosts who were described as being at different ages are now changed by Kubrick into the identical Burns twin sisters who mirror each other. And the memorable encounter in the hallway with Danny.
6) No furniture, doors, or objects moving by themselves in a supernatural fashion as described in the novel. Kubrick went even farther with the concept and changed how actual freezer door hinges open and close, where the hedge maze entrance is, and created doors, windows, and possibilities that appear real, but cannot even logically exist in the layout of The Overlook.
7) Jack Nicholson invented the violent throwing of the tennis ball against the walls, and the sacred sand painting.
8) Jack's typewriter attack on Wendy, invented by Nicholson who was already a famous writer and used his own experiences with writer's block.
9) Jack is shown having the ghostly encounter in Room 237's bathroom, not Danny.
10) Wendy was cast as being a much more realistic and ordinary wife of a violent alcoholic, who makes excuses for her husband to others, and stays out of his way when threatened. It's one of the key differences that seems to piss everyone off. But we do feel like Wendy's life is in danger, and an axe is much more deadly than a roque mallet. As Hallorann discovered with a single blow.
11) "Heeeeeerrrreees Johnny!" - invented by Nicholson, and almost left on the cutting room floor by Kubrick.
12) Kubrick actually showed Wendy interrupting the "possible" reward that bearsuit Roger receives from Horace Derwent. King only hints at this possibility in his novel, but it never actually occurs once. It's an extraordinary way to show Wendy instantly that she has been overlooking distateful events in her marriage for years. And that her husband is now the willing servant himself - on his knees now "servicing" The Overlook Hotel in any way it asks of him. Including the murder of his wife and son. No film before this had ever shown two male ghosts having sex. It was implied with Quint and Jessel offscreen in THE INNOCENTS, but never filmed in the way Kubrick did. And one of the most discussed sequences of the entire film.

If Kubrick himself rejected King's earlier screenplay and created his own with Diane Johnson then THE SHINING film becomes a very different vehicle, indeed. And one that King never sat in.

What makes the film so great is precisely how Kubrick reinvented King's ideas, and jettisoned the "tragic Jack" saccharine martyrdom themes. For a film that represents denial throughout history, The Overlook Hotel is a perfect concept for Kubrick's philosophies of what The Uncanny represents in a mainstream horror film.
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THE SHiNiNG

No, she wasn't livid. But she was up front about the fact that he was hard on her.

He spent the majority of his time coaching her performance and he wanted her to be perfect. Why?

Because Duvall is the STAR of this movie. She is, and many people are coming around to this fact now. She is the backbone why this movie works. She is the only actress that Kubrick ever bothered to really work with, push to expand her range and showcase on film in many emotional states. And she will remain the one and only Kubrick Actress.

He specifically sought her out because he wanted her for this film.