There is something dark and sinister going on. The Overlook isn’t a hotel, but a haunted house that bears the weight of a mysterious and violent past. Wendy is essentially trapped in the Overlook and is usually alone in a vast and dangerous structure that is packed with hidden secrets. It is more appropriate to consider the Overlook an unstoppable monster that imposes its terror on the people who live there. And it’s Wendy and not Jack who is able to resist at the end.

A Gothic heroine, the one who is trapped in a terrifying haunted house, has to show courage when faced with danger by remaining strong and determined while being at risk of the dangers lurking in every corner. Without the tension, we would not be able to keep our eyes on the ball. The film’s protagonist, Duvall is waifish, eyes wide, hair slack and scraggly. It’s hard to not believe she’s about to pass away. The only goal she has is to protect her child, Danny who is a child of his father who — as we discover early onhad broken Danny’s arm during an alcohol-fueled fury. The evil she’s fighting is a vicious and violent and is real. It’s a threat she’s seen in action before, but this time it is armed with an axe.

The Wendy in Kubrick’s movie of the same year is a different type of woman unlike the Wendy of Stephen King’s first novel She’s more vulnerable, scared. King expressed his displeasure that the version in the movie is “basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about.” Duvall was mentioned as a flaw in a number of the film’s negative reviews. She was also nominated for a Razzie award for the most unprofessional actress.

However, her performance as a character in “The Shining” has grown in respect from critics over the last few times; it could appear as if critics did not realize how frightening it could be to watch her complete terror. There’s something odd about it that her eyes are massive and heavy-lidded, with her mouth can draw into a rosebud, or spread out to let out a scream. In the film, her appearance appears to be that of an antique doll, scared of being crushed. She is afraid to breathe and is unable to speak.