The 86-year-old actor, Jack Nicholson, has acted in many genres throughout his yearlong career. But his horror genre films hit differently. From 1963’s The Raven to 1994’s Wolf, his amazing acting chops make these films even more scary.
But there’s this one film that’s not only one of his best horror movies but also the best horror movie ever, period. It’s Stanley Kubrick’s chilling psychological thriller 1980’s The Shining. Nicholson added a villainous and maniacal energy to his character, Jack Torrance, in the film.
The film is about his own madness—where he tries to kill his wife with an axe—which makes it even more disturbing to watch. But there’s a new detail about him that can leave many fans staggering.
Unnoticed Jack Nicholson Element Adds Terrifying Layer to The Shining
The Shining is creepy enough to give anyone jump scares. No doubt, Kubrick’s 1980s film has become an annual Halloween staple for years, but it has also been the subject of other things.
The film has become the topic of many books and documentaries where film theorists dissect the film, uncovering hidden references in every scene. But recently, author and essayist Filippo Ulivieri has noticed something that no one else has ever spotted before.
He wrote in a 50-part X/Twitter thread, “I’ve noticed something odd happening in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. True, there’s plenty of odd things going on in The Shining, but this is really weird.”
Ulivieri then pointed out instances in The Shining where Jack Nicholson, as Jack Torrance, looks directly into the camera lens. The actor did this many times from the very beginning to the chilling conclusion, but it’s like a stealthy stare—quick and almost imperceptible.
A Theorist Suggested That The Camera Symbolizes Ghost Jack Nicholson Spots in The Shining
Ulivieri’s noticeable moment in The Shining, in which Jack Torrance looks at the camera where “there’s no one to look at,” adds an eerie dimension.
He later theorizes that these looks could be to unsettle the audience without making them realize. The theorist also asserted that the camera could symbolize a ghost from the Overlook Hotel that Nicholson perceives.
To make this clear, in the documentary Making the Shining, director Kubrick asks Nicholson to look directly at the camera before the iconic door-axing scene. This also reinforces the theorized intentional gaze. The fans of the horror flick praised Ulivieri for posting a video on YouTube about the theory.
Watch The Shining, which is available on Prime Video.
