Stephen King slams Kubrick's The Shining

Writer Stephen King has slated Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his novel 'The Shining', calling Shelley Duvall's character 'one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film'.

King, who has made no secret of his distaste for big screen version of his benchmark 1977 novel, made the explicit comments in an interview with the BBC.

Arts correspondent Will Gompertz got him to open up about his take on the movie while speaking to him about his new sequel novel, 'Doctor Sleep', which joins Danny, Jack Torrance's son from the first book, in middle age.

[The greatest movie never made: Kubrick's Napoleon film]

'[It's] cold,” he said of the film. “I’m not a cold guy.I think one of the things people relate to in my books is this warmth, there’s a reaching out and saying to the reader, ‘I want you to be a part of this'.

"With Kubrick’s 'The Shining' I felt that it was very cold, very ‘We’re looking at these people, but they’re like ants in an anthill, aren’t they doing interesting things, these little insects'."

Jack Nicholson, despite his now iconic performance, wasn't right either.

“Jack Torrance in the movie, seems crazy from the jump. Jack Nicholson, I’d seen all his biker pictures in the ’50s and ’60s and I thought, he’s just channeling The Wild Angels here,” King added.

But it was Shelley Duvall's Wendy Torrance which really didn't sit right with him.

[Lost 'happy ending' to The Shining found]

“Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she’s basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about,” he said.

Oof...

King has always said that he was 'deeply disappointed' in the film, even 'hated' it.

But in spite of his views, the film remains one of the most loved – or feared – horror movies of all time.

Meanwhile, King's 'Doctor Sleep' is published on September 24.

Have you read the 'The Shining'? Does the film stand up? Let us know...