“We filmed that for about three weeks”: The Shining Scene That Became Shelley Duvall’s Nightmare Fuel Was Filmed for a Whopping 127 Times to Satisfy Stanley Kubrick

The Shining, a landmark movie in Hollywood, and one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest achievements, stands as a testament to how art can turn into a vivid nightmare and how passion can be corrupted by obsession in a single scene.

The film that made Jack Nicholson the ‘Here’s Johnny’ meme king and earned Shelley Duvall an insulting Razzie holds a dark and tortured history underneath the polished surface of its pop culture fame and timelessness.

The Shining: A Slow Descent Into Depravity

Despite earning a Golden Raspberry for it, Shelley Duvall’s powerful performance in the film was not entirely an act. A tale as old as time — the terrifying chase scene through the Overlook Hotel that followed the baseball bat-wielding wife defending herself from the axe-wielding husband was maniacally filmed over 100 times to get the perfect result.

While some claim art requires sacrifice, Duvall never deserved what came her way on the day Kubrick began filming that particular scene. In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress broke down in tears while rewatching the scene, saying:

We filmed that for about three weeks. Every day. It was very hard. Jack was so good – so damn scary. I can only imagine how many women go through this kind of thing. It was a difficult scene, but it turned out to be one of the best in the film.

In the end, The Shining left behind a legacy horror film, two tormented actors, a lifetime of psychological scars, and Stanley Kubrick’s divisive reputation as an immortal genius.

The Mad Genius of Stanley Kubrick & His 127 Takes

Stanley Kubrick famously shot 127 takes of a single scene while filming the Stephen King adaptation, The Shining. The scene in itself was an ambitious one — encompassing the building tension of the film and featuring an unending, frenzied display of fear and insanity: “I’m not gonna hurt you; I’m gonna bash your brains in.”

The climactic showdown, viewed through Kubrick’s lens, was a panic-inducing, nails-on-a-chalkboard-level disturbing sequence that showed the audience what real terror, paranoia, and manic breakdown look like. The scene, as a product of art, was a masterclass in acting. But beyond that, the scene failed Shelley Duvall for its infallible inhumanity.

Years down the line, considering Kubrick’s seemingly unimpeachable reputation as a legendary director and auteur, it seems horrifying to even comprehend the abuse and trauma inflicted during those takes that nearly drove Duvall away from Hollywood.

Never mind the behind-the-scenes stories, the controversy that stems from the 127-takes incident alone was enough to motivate the filmmaker’s daughter, Vivian Kubrick, to shoot an explosive documentary that spared neither bias nor sympathy for the “perfectionist” in him.

The Shining is available to stream on AMC+