A review of the 2007 Stephen King psychological horror movie, "1408," starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. 9/10
Mike Enslin is a paranormal investigative author of several books, in which he searches for haunted houses / hotels but is yet to find one that is truly haunted. He travels the world to visit every supposedly haunted location he can. Everything changes when he receives a mysterious post card that tells him to visit room 1408 in a New York hotel, The Dolphin. Enslin has not been to New York in a long time because his ex-wife lives there and it brings back memories of their little daughter, Katie, who died as a young child. Thoughts of not doing enough to prevent her death have followed him ever since. Upon calling the hotel to book room 1408, he is met with severe opposition by hotel staff to rent the room due to its long history of deaths over the years. He finds a law that states that an unoccupied hotel room must be rented at its request and uses it to his advantage. Last minute objections come in the form of the hotel manager, Gerald Olin, who tries to bribe Enslin not to stay in the room with expensive wine and a folder containing records of all of the deaths in 1408. Enslin will hear nothing of the sort and stays in the room anyway. Once he enters the room, his life changes forever.
This is a terrific psychological-based horror for 2007. Based on the Stephen King horror short story of the same name, think of "1408" as being Stephen King's "The Shining" but on a micro scale. "The Shining" had a haunted room, 237. While we only see relatively vague glimpses of the room in "The Shining," in "1408," room 1408 is seen in all of its gory glory.
The age-old tales of haunted places, especially those in hotels, are abundant everywhere. People are attracted to this mystique like bugs to those outdoor zap-it lights, fictional or otherwise. "1408" is another take on a type of story perfected by the master of the macabre, Stephen King. The story here is on a smaller scale than most of his past works. It takes the simple premise of a haunted hotel room, which seems very simple at first glance, and adds to it a richly layered history and the deepest, darkest thoughts of one man - a non-believer with an emotional torrent welled up inside himself. "1408" is truly a character-based and driven story that gives us a long look into one man's life, thoughts, dreams, and, most importantly, his nightmares!
Not everyone like a slower, well-paced horror story. If you want mindless, senseless, bloody gore, look elsewhere. If you want a story with great character development and a slow-building psychological horror story, "1408" is a great choice!
John Cusack outdoes himself here, as the star character, Mike Enslin. He starts out a calm, sarcastic, and non-believing man and by the end, he becomes a man driven to the brink of sanity. Cusack does a superb job and creates a character so heartfelt that you cannot help but feel he is real and be moved by his performance. If you were not a fan of his before, you will be after "1408."
Samuel L. Jackson also puts in another great performance as hotel manager, Gerald Olin. His character's motives and his role in room 1408 are left open to viewer speculation. This only adds to the mystique.
This is not a gory movie and, as such, requires very little in the way of bloody special effects. "1408" has special effects but mostly in the form of set/stage effects. There are no ghastly make-up effects either. It relies more on psychology to strike fear inside us. This movie, while scary, is not really one that relies on shocks and sudden bursts of heart-pounding sounds or images.
The weakest part of the movie is the atmosphere, which is not very scary at all. It does not have the morbid feeling of approaching terror soon to occur like in other King movies. The songs of The Carpenters that emanate from the radio in 1408 just do not strike terror that would have really added to sense of impending doom. "1408" does have a certain horror of its own - one of psychology. A few scenes do offer a bit a scares but it is not dependent on it.
A few things, such as the hotel manager's true motives and whether not Enslin really experienced everything or it is an after effect of an accident, are somewhat left open to speculation. The final scene sheds some light on the latter point though.
While "1408" is not the most terrifying horror movie, it is by no means not scary. It will spook some viewers with its sadness and a sense of imprisonment. It is definitely worth a view by horror, psychological, and drama fans!
