Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: The Grady Twins (The Shining)

Remember a few months ago when I reviewed Regan and mentioned that if ever there was a movie that suffered for being influential, it was The Exorcist? Well, I still stand by that statement. But if I had to add another horror film to that list, I would definitely add The Shining.

Now don’t get me wrong, The Shining is a very good film…if perhaps a wee bit on the long side. But I would be quite happy to never, ever see someone paying “tribute” or doing a “hilarious” parody of it ever again. We’ve seen the kid cycling around, we’ve seen “Here’s Johnny” and above all we’ve seen the creepy twins again and again. No need for any more, pls.

But nonetheless, the Grady Twins are one of the defining images of the film, and so it’s only fitting that they got their own Mystery Mini from Funko. The first thing I noticed was that – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – they aren’t just mirror images of one another. Though they’re clearly twins, one is slightly taller than the other, and their heads are also a slightly different size. This is accurate to the girls who played the Twins in the film, but if Funko hadn’t bothered then I doubt anyone would have complained. It’s an impressive bit of detail in a stylised format, though.

The Shining is quite an enigmatic film, and one of the few ghost films that I like. Perhaps this is because of its ambiguity; in the original novel, the horrors are definitely real – but in Kubrick’s take on the story, you can’t be quite sure. This is my roundabout and clumsy way of saying that these figures are good, but they work due to their larger context, not due to their base design. At face value they’re simply two kids in old-fashioned dresses – but when you’ve seen the film, they’re something else entirely. They’re fun, but as I noted in the Jack Torrance review, it would be good to get a Danny Torrance too. Maybe in series 4?