As John Cusack’s character Mike Enslin states, hotel rooms really are one of the creepiest places on the block. Who knows what devilish deeds, and vile bodily fluids were strewn across the very bed you are lying in? Murders, accidental deaths, suicides, break ups, prostitution stings- the list of possibilities is both endless and creepy. So what happens when that hotel room becomes the villain in a horror movie? In all actuality you get The Shining but in this case the answer is 1408, the less attractive and not as cool brother.
Based on the short story by Stephen King, 1408 tells the tale of author Mike Enslin. A skeptic who writes novels about supposed haunted places across the country- in all cases coming up with nothing that shakes him to his core. That is until he receives a postcard about the Dolphin Hotel and a warning about room 1408. After doing research and talking to the manager, Enslin finds that the room has been held accountable for over 50 deaths and that anyone who stays there lasts no longer than 60 minutes. Not easily shaken, Enslin enters the room despite the harsh pleading the manager gives him. After only a few moments in the room it becomes violently clear that the room holds a certain evil within the walls, and that Mike Enslin will be forced to become a believer before long.
While 1408 is not a horrible movie by any means, there are still things I find extremely distracting. The biggest one for me is the effect of the “ghosts” in the room. They look like blue holograms and do little to spook the viewer- in fact they even made me laugh at one point. I also found there to be very little actual frightening moments, which I found surprising coming from a Stephen King story. One reviewer on a message board referred to the movie as a terrifying story where all the scary parts were taken out. As someone who has not read the short story, I can’t really vouch for this- but I can say that I felt truly scared little to no times during the entirety of the film. There’s a certain claustrophobia that should have been felt, but I found that it was replaced with glaring CGI effects and the downright ridiculous acting skills of John Cusack. I realize I may be in the minority, but can someone tell me what exactly the appeal of John Cusack is? I find him to be annoying and distracting and he kind of looks like a muppet. He bothers me and I know that’s probably just personal taste but it really busted my chops!
The other major downfall is the completely ridiculous and long ending. I really hate movies where everything makes sense and then suddenly we are plunged back into madness and forced to relive a new and different ending that does little to help anything. There are also two different endings, one original, bleak ending and one ending that was made to appease those that felt the ending was too much of a downer. I believe I saw the downer ending but to be honest I was so mad over the 1st false ending and relief that I didn’t give a crap what the rest of the movie was like. It was so jarring and instead of plunging me back into the same madness and claustrophobic atmosphere that John Cusack was, it just distracted me and made me want to turn the movie off.
All in all there are a few decent moments, some creepy atmospheric touches and a tiny bit of humor. Not enough to make me love it- but I didn’t necessarily detest it either. I just wish it paid more attention to the actual fear in the room rather than John Cusack’s star power. I guess we can’t have it all!
Buy 1408 at Horror Movie Empire!
Andre Dumas
I agree that 1408 isn’t a great movie, but when it comes to instilling the creepiness of hotel room history and giving Samuel L Jackson the most badass role, it works.