Long after his death director Stanley Kubrick remains as mysterious as his relatively short list of films. He relished in the ambiguity of his characters and always left it up to the audience to decide what the true meaning of these stories were. As such, his legacy has been that of a esoteric genius of cinema, somebody who operated outside of the conventions of typical big screen fare. In his wake, Kubrick has left legions of cultish followers, many of whom have meticulously combed through his works to find something more.

Still the biggest questions are left unanswered. Did Kubrick intentionally include banal red herrings in his films to lead audiences down a rabbit hole? Did he appeal to the subconscious through visual cues and subliminal set pieces? Or the biggest question of all – are we the audience looking way too far into these movies? My guess is that the latter question is already answered. In recent years, viewers have attempted to disseminate innocuous pieces of certain Kubrick works to create their own mad theories which teeter on the edge of insanity. We’re going to look at some of the craziest.

5. EYES WIDE SHUT – Stanley Kubrick murdered by the Illuminati? In researching this piece, I combed through many forums and websites devoted to the mystery of Stanley Kubrick. One of the most common theories I found was one that mused on the idea that Stanley Kubrick was murdered by the shadowy group known as the “Illuminati” for portraying their practices and rituals on the big screen in his film Eyes Wide Shut. Now, putting aside reason and rationale, it’s easy to see how your common super-fan might draw this conclusion. It’s more simple to believe that somebody you idolize was taken from you unlawfully as opposed to natural causes, but there are two things that work against this theory.

A) The existence of the Illuminati – a group composed of the world’s wealthy elite who control every aspect of financial and social policy in the world – has never been proven. Despite strange indications from the likes of Beyonce and Jay-Z, the Illuminati exist solely for the purpose of perpetuating a myth. Besides, if there were a group as connected and dangerous, how would we ever know they existed anyway?

B) Kubrick’s death sent shockwaves across the film community at large, which naturally led to the results of his autopsy being exposed to the international media. The verdict? Kubrick, who was age 70 at the time of his passing, died of a heart attack.

Eyes Wide Shut, a controversial character study of marital deception and sexuality, is another mentally transcendent work that has grown to be more appreciated over time. Starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and the late Sydney Pollack, it’s certainly worth having a look at.