When a river of blood cascades from an elevator in the Overlook Hotel, is there something else that flops out? Some mass or object that is fleetingly obscured by the deluge? This fascinating thesis suggests there is.
Repetitive viewings reveal what certainly looks like a mass at the foot of the elevator door, but that doesn't mean there is one. This video takes the opposing view, that what seems to be a mass or object is not. Instead, it is the blood, itself. Its surface sheen creates the illusion of an object at the foot of the elevator.
Bloomsday, the final arbiter of all things, conveniently asserts that neither side is persuasive. But the thought that Kubrick thought to put a little subliminal somethin'-somethin' extra in the shot is slightly more entertaining that the thought that he didn't but it looks like he did.
It is worth noting that there's plenty of strange subliminal stuff in The Shining, including a faint word or sound uttered or whispered on the soundtrack multiple times in the film's first hour. Its first use occurs as Jack passes two columns on his way to Ullman's office. You'll also hear it several times during their conversation, and a dozen or so times thereafter. You may have to crank the volume loud, but you'll hear it. This video provides the exact moments the sound appears.
As the blood settles, it may be worth noting that the elevator scene, itself, is placed first in Danny's mind as he talks to Tony in the bathroom mirror. Could those gaping, unblinking "eyes" above the two elevators staring at the viewer during the gushing horror be witness to a heretofore unnoticed onscreen cameo of Tony?
