Brian De Palma on why Stanley Kubrick “failed” the horror genre
Whilst you might instantly think of the horror genre when such names as Wes Craven, John Carpenter and William Friedkin are brought to your attention, other such icons like Brian De Palma and Stanley Kubrick conjure visions of other classic movies. Even still, De Palma and Kubrick created two of the greatest horror flicks of the late 20th century, with Carrie and The Shining sharing one thing in common: Stephen King.
De Palma’s adaptation of King’s novel Carrie came first, releasing the movie, which told the story of a high-school girl whose rage comes to the surface with supernatural consequences, in 1976, claiming two Oscar nominations in the process. Both Academy Award nods came for the two lead actors, Sissy Spacek and the late Piper Laurie, with De Palma well translating King’s themes of ostracism and youthful revenge.
Kubrick’s The Shining, however, which was based on King’s third novel of the same name, has long been considered among the very best horror movies ever made. The author may not agree with this assessment, once comparing the film to a “beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it”, but contemporary fans and critics certainly do, praising the leading performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.
Yet, De Palma, who started his career in horror with such movies as 1974’s Phantom of the Paradise and 1978’s The Fury, wasn’t too keen on Kubrick’s take either, once stating that he thought the director treated the genre with “contempt”.
Speaking in a 1980 interview with Ralph Appelbaum, De Palma stated: “In The Shining, you’re dealing with a director who is working for the first time in this genre and who seems to have a bit of contempt for it. He is obviously not interested in the conventions of the genre he’s chosen; in fact, he seems to feel there would be something cheapening or demeaning in drawing from the wellspring of the normal genre conventions.”
At the time, Kubrick was recognised as one of the industry’s finest filmmakers, with such titles as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Paths of Glory having set the world of cinema alight. Meanwhile, De Palma was a burgeoning young director who was yet to make his mark with such later releases as Blow Out, Scarface and Carlito’s Way.
Despite this, he wasn’t afraid to go after Kubrick, adding: “Instead, you sense that he wants to revolutionize it and make it something profound or significant. But the result is inevitably heavy-handed because what he has actually done is failed to realise the intrinsic beauty of the basic form per se”.
Take a look at the trailer for Kubrick’s horror classic below.
