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That Time Stanley Kubrick Made $1.5M Off The Shining Remake

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Love it or hate it, The Shining remake/miniseries set out to tell Stephen King’s legendary story the way King intended it. As I’m sure you’re aware, the author was never a fan of Kubrick’s classic film due to the many changes made to fit the director’s vision. Ultimately, Kubrick started with King’s story and made a Kubrick film out of it, and most agree that this is the superior screen version if not one of the greatest horror films (or even films) of all time.

The Garris project, which King wrote the teleplay for, first aired in 1997. Kubrick died just two years later in 1999, but he was alive when the miniseries was made, and according to Garris, he actually got a nice chunk of change out of it.

weber-shining

I’ve been listening to a ton of back episodes of Adam Green and Joe Lynch’s The Movie Crypt podcast lately. I love hearing the stories from filmmakers and other industry insiders and learning new things about the projects they’ve worked on. Seriously, it’s like crack for horror geeks. I recently listened to one from a couple years ago – episode 18 – which featured Mick Garris, and he noted something that I was completely unaware of despite having devoted a pretty good deal of my time on earth consuming content related to The Shining. I found where he mentioned it in an old Icons of Fright interview as well, but either way, it’s an interesting bit of trivia that a lot of people probably aren’t aware of.

“Kubrick got paid a million and a half dollars for us to be able to do a miniseries, and not many people know that,” Garris told Green. “And King had to sign an agreement saying he would not say anything bad about the Kubrick film. So these are little secrets you’re getting only on The Movie Crypt (laughs).”

According to the miniseries’ trivia section on IMDb, to re-obtain the rights from the Kubrick estate, King had to publicly recant his oft-voiced opinions of Kubrick’s film.

As Garris noted in the podcast, most people  – particularly fans of King’s novel – didn’t really like Kubrick’s film when it came out. It took time for it to truly become recognized as the cinematic masterpiece that it is. By the time the remake was released, it had already achieved that status. Garris himself admitted on The Movie Crypt that he didn’t care much for Kubrick’s film when it was released as he was already a huge fan of King’s novel, but that he had come around to it over the years, recognizing it as a great Kubrick film, even if not a great King adaptation.

King says in the Author’s Note of his sequel novel Doctor Sleep (hat tip to Tasha Robinson), “The Shining is one of those novels people always mention (along with ‘Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary, and It) when they talk about which of my books really scared the bejeezus out of them. Plus, of course, there was Stanley Kubrick’s movie, which many seem to remember  – for reasons I have never quite understood – as one of the scariest films they have ever seen. If you have seen the movie but not read the novel, you should note that Doctor Sleep follows the latter, which is, in my opinion, the True History of the Torrance Family.)”

Here’s  a video of King talking about Kubrick and his film, as he discusses Doctor Sleep and jokes about how he’s canceling out the film (another hat tip to Robinson).


“It’s like Stanley Kubrick was like the coldest guy in the universe,” he told the audience. “I outlived him though, didn’t I? Oh man, I even got hit by a car, and I still outlived him.”

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five

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Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.

Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.

The Faceless Lady

Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.

So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.

Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?

The faceless lady

The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.

Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube

To view in the highest resolution, adjust the quality settings in the bottom right corner of the clip.

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