The Shining’s Cut Epilogue Shines On

Steve Barton |

Jan 25, 2013

Source Name:

The Overlook Hotel

Source Url:

http://www.theoverlookhotel.com/

Post Thumb:

/aug12/shinings.jpg

Every now and again someone digs up a long lost relic pertaining to Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece The Shining, and each time it happens, what we see leaves us grinning from ear to ear. Kind of like the way Nicholson did in his “Heeeere’s Johnny!” moment.

Website The Overlook Hotel has just released some script pages and even some continuity Polaroids from the excised alternate ending of the flick. According to the site, Kubrick’s co-screenwriter on The Shining, Diane Johnson, had this to say about the deleted epilogue:

“Kubrick had filmed a final scene that was cut, where Wendy and Danny are recovering from the shock in a hospital and where Ullman visits them. Kubrick felt that we should see them in the hospital so we would know that they were all right. He had a soft spot for Wendy and Danny and thought that, at the end of a horror film, the audience should be reassured that everything was back to normal.”

Very little remains of the hospital epilogue beyond some continuity Polaroids, costumes, and 35mm film trims housed in the Stanley Kubrick Archive.

Check out the Polaroids below, and click here for the script pages.

Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, Kubrick’s tale of a family man and would-be writer (Nicholson) going mad as winter caretaker of the cursed Overlook Hotel is a seminal work of the genre. Kubrick’s film has been described as a masterpiece of modern horror and is widely considered to be one of the most terrifying movies ever made. However, at the time of release both Kubrick and lead actress Shelley Duvall were nominated for Razzie Awards for the film.