MovieChat Forums > The Shining (1980) Discussion > Was Jack possessed by The Hotel's ghostl...

Was Jack possessed by The Hotel's ghostly supernatural evil? Or did he become insane?


And thus SPOILER - towards the end tried to kill his family? I think he did become insane but not quite possessed.

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In the book, it's clearly the hotel bewitching/possessing Jack to kill Danny for his "shine."

Kubrick made that point much more ambiguous, except who/what let him out of the pantry?

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I've never read the book, but in the movie it did seem open to interpretation.

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I'd say it's more the Ghosts caused him to lose his sanity

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i think it's both. He is being corrupted throughout the film by the hotel. Mostly insanity i guess.

Is it possessing him though? Possible.

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He is in the picture at the end of the movie. So, the hotel and its "energy" was possessing and absorbing him.

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