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"Mature Content Warning!" |
The Overlook Hotel is the overarching antagonist of the 1980 psychological horror film The Shining and its 2019 sequel Doctor Sleep, both based on Stephen King's 1977 and 2013 novels of the same names respectively.
It's a hotel which was built over an ancient Indian cemetery. Consequently, the Overlook Hotel became a demonic entity, bent on manipulating its guests into murdering their families, as it does with the Torrance family in 1980 by manipulating their patriarch Jack, shattering the family forever, especially Jack's young son Danny, whom the Overlook specifically targets for possessing the "Shining".
Its exterior was portrayed by the Timberline Lodge.
What Makes It Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Although it's stated by Stuart Ullman to have been built over an Indian burial ground, it's never actually delved into if the Overlook Hotel is evil because it was haunted by the spirits buried there or not, making it too far vague to determine if the Overlook is Made of Evil or not.
- While its past murders aren't depicted onscreen, the graphic aftermath of the murder of the Grady twins is shown, making very clear how far Charles Grady went thanks to the Overlook's influence.
- While it does seem to allow the ghosts of its victims to gang up on Rose the Hat and devour her alive, it doesn't send them to save Danny (nor to give Rose her karma, as she definitely had it coming), as once they finish Rose off, they go after Danny and attack him, enabling the Overlook to possess him.
Background[]
- It manipulated Charles Grady into killing his wife and his two daughters with an axe, inciting him to cut them in pieces and hide their remains, just because they felt its evil influence and tried to burn down the hotel. This led Grady to commit suicide, but even then, the Overlook trapped his soul within its walls despite him saving it from destruction, apparently corrupting him to the point he would incite any other residents into killing their families as well, as the Hotel Caretaker.
- It got Lorraine Massey killed, trapping her soul within its walls as well, leading her to haunt its premises just like Grady, specifically Room 237.
- It claimed the lives of Horace M. Derwent, Roger and Roger's lover as well.
- It killed countless of its guests, strongly implied to be all the partygoers of the Gold Ballroom, and trapped their souls to haunt its general vicinity.
- It tormented Dick Hallorann at some point before the events of the film.
The Shining[]
- It slowly manipulates aspiring writer Jack Torrance to kill his wife Wendy and his five years old son Danny, deteriorating his mental health and making it responsible for almost all of Jack's actions during his stay at the Overlook.
- It targets Danny for possessing the "Shining" ability by showing him the Grady twins asking him to play and then their corpses in addition to also having Massey strangle him in Room 237.
- It convinces Jack, through Grady's ghost, to "correct" his family once Danny alerts Hallorann through the "Shining", all to prevent its destruction.
- It assaults Wendy while Jack pursues Danny into the maze by summoning some of its previous victims to scare Wendy or even making a blood avalanche come from one of its elevators to taunt her.
- Its actions scarred the Torrances for life, with a traumatized Danny experiencing visions of Lorraine Massey for years as he grew up, turning him into an alcoholic and drug-addicted man until he met Billy Freeman and joined his Alcoholics Anonymous group.
Doctor Sleep[]
- Upon being woken up by Danny thirty-nine years after its closure so Danny and Abra Stone could use it as a battleground to defeat Rose the Hat, the Overlook summons Jack's ghost to try to trick Danny into a glass of whisky as his "medicine", likely to taunt him with his father's alcoholism, and later forces Danny to experience some visions of his time inside the hotel.
- It attempts to kill Abra Stone with an ax while possessing Danny.
- Its threat ultimately drives Danny to sacrifice himself by staying behind inside the Overlook with its boilers on to stop it from claiming any more lives while Abra made her way out of the hotel, making the Overlook responsible for Danny's death.
Trivia[]
- Only the Overlook Hotel's film incarnation qualifies for Pure Evil status because the literature version had some moral agency issues (due to being stated to have absorbed the negative energy of the people around during its edification).
- This may have something to do with the fact that whereas Stephen King's original The Shining novel ended with the Overlook Hotel being destroyed by a redeemed Jack Torrance, Stanley Kubrick's version ends with the Overlook Hotel still standing while an unredeemed Jack Torrance dies alone in its maze. This later enabled Mike Flanagan to bring the Overlook Hotel back in the Doctor Sleep film, in contrast to the Doctor Sleep novel, in which the Roof O' the World inn has been erected where the Overlook used to be.
- Stephen King actually disliked Stanley Kubrick's decision to make Jack Torrance the film's main villain, given Kubrick's feelings that the story relied on the human personality's evil side whereas King envisioned Jack as a victim of the Overlook's evilness. This later led Mike Flanagan to explicitly confirm in the second film that the Overlook was truly supernatural.
External Links[]
- Overlook Hotel on the Villains Wiki
- Overlook Hotel on the Evil Wiki
- Overlook Hotel on the Stephen King Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Novels Adaptations The Resurrection of Rose | ||