My Favorite Horror Movie Performance Is Just as Funny as It Is Terrifying
Horror and comedy and more similar than people realize, as they both revolve around timing and violating norms. My favorite performance in a horror movie is Jack Nicholson’s scary-funny turn in The Shining. While many fans just see Nicholson’s Jack Torrance as terrifying, I think the character has comedic overtones that helped make the movie a classic.
My favorite horror movie performance is as surreal as can be
Horror isn’t always the most critically acclaimed genre, but it has given us some superb performances. Anthony Perkins in Psycho, Marilyn Burns in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs are all electrifying. However, Nicholson stands out — even among those luminaries.
In The Shining, Nicholson overacts to the point where some of his acting choices are downright surreal. That fits well with the tone of the movie, which becomes progressively more off-kilter as it goes on. Furthermore, Nicholson’s acting is an assault on the senses. When he starts screaming his son’s name towards the end of The Shining, it feels like he’s screaming directly at the audience.
Why my favorite horror movie performance works as comedy
There’s also an inherent humor to overacting. Something about exaggerating emotions to the nth degree will always be funny. For that reason, Nicholson’s line reads and facial expressions can feel clownish and amusing.
And yet, the humor only adds to the horror. Since Nicholson’s performance is so bizarre, it reaches a point where the audience doesn’t know what he’ll do next. Will he camp it up or send chills down our spines? Much of the film relies on a fear of the unknown, and The Shining never lets the audience know what to expect, narratively or stylistically.
In the hands of a lesser actor, Torrance would be impossible to play. However, Nicholson handles the film’s varying tones with aplomb. As the years go on, The Shining may be regarded as his best work.
A member of ‘The Shining”s crew explains how Jack Nicholson upset Stanley Kubrick
Bob Tanswell was an electrician who worked on The Shining. In a 2016 article from The Guardian, Tanswell discussed the dynamic between Nicholson and director Stanley Kubrick on set. “I’d heard of Stanley Kubrick but didn’t realize how special he was,” Tanswell said. “He’d do 150 takes of a simple scene. He knew everybody’s job.”
Tanswell said Kubrick’s reputation preceded him. “Some people were scared of him because he could make or break a career,” he said. “Not Jack, though. Jack called him ‘Stan’ to wind him up. You could call him ‘Stanley,’ ‘Mr. Kubrick,’ or ‘Guv,’ just not ‘Stan.’ But they liked each other.”
Nicholson didn’t take his work on The Shining overly seriously. “One time, Jack said he had done his back in and needed a few days off,” Tanswell recalled. “That’s a lot of time when you’re shooting a big film, but Stanley said ‘OK.’ The next day, we were in the sparks room watching Wimbledon [Championships] when Stanley walks in. He asks what we’re up to and as he turns to look at the telly, there he is: Jack Nicholson sat in the crowd with a girl on either side. Stanley went mad.”
Nicholson knew how to make Kubrick livid — and how to make the audience laugh and scream.
