„It Was Just a Giant Failure”. Clint Eastwood Hates the Classic Horror Movie That Steven Spielberg Loves and Has Seen 25 Times
Clint Eastwood had no mercy for Stanley Kubrick's famous film, which Steven Spielberg, for a change, loves and has seen dozens of times.
Clint Eastwood is a legend of cinema. The artist has worked both in front of and behind the camera, and is well acquainted with both aspects of a filmmaker's work. And the actor is eager to speak out not only about his own projects, but also about other movies, also speaking out about the famous The Shining, which is a cult film, despite the fact that the author of the novel on which the production was based is not a fan of the film and expressed his displeasure about the deviations that took place in Stanley Kubrick's work.
This film is apparently also hated by Eastwood, who called the classic horror film a “gigantic failure” during an interview with SlashFilm. The western legend not only laughed at the movie's slogan, which was placed on the posters, but also assessed that Kubrick's production was not the least bit scary.
I was joking the other day because Kubrick had put that byline on the movie poster: “A masterpiece of modern horror.” Even some of the execs at the studio said, “Stanley, maybe you better wait and let some reviewer stick that byline on the film, because it might be considered a little forward of you to do it.” Evidently that got overruled and he just went ahead and did it. We were talking about ads for Any Which Way You Can. I said,”Well, maybe we should call it 'a masterpiece in modern comedy and adventure.'”
If it had been a new director, they would've bombed it right out of the building. It was just a giant failure. The greatest example in the picture is that there just wasn't anything at all terrifying about it. That ax scene, coming in with the ax to hit Scat [Crothers], it's dead as a d***.
Eastwood was firm in his views on The Shining, which is approached quite differently by another famous filmmaker. Steven Spielberg, although initially unconvinced by Kubrick's film, began to become more and more convinced with each subsequent screening. He now loves The Shining (via Academic Studies Press).
I didn’t love The Shining the first time I saw it. I have since seen The Shining 25 times. It’s one of my favorite pictures. Kubrick films tend to grow on you, you have to see them more than once.
Perhaps Eastwood hasn't seen The Shining enough times and that's why he has such a critical approach to it.
