1408 - Director's Cut Edition [2007] [DVD]

Whilst I could comment on many films that I have watched over the years, I have never felt more compelled to do so than now.
1408 is brilliant. It kept my family and I on the edge of our seats from start to finish. There are so many things that I could say about the movie, but I would hate to spoil it for you. Just watch it and make sure that you have the surround sound system turned up.

"1408" is one of the best short stories in Stephen King's working career (and he writes a lot and well) but this adaptation is very different from the original and the changes - in my modest opinion - harmed this movie, which could be a masterpiece instead of just another horror film.

In case if you didn't read the story (available in the collection "Everything is eventual") or saw this movie, I do not want to provide any spoilers, so I will not go into the details of the plot - let's just say that this is a tale about a professional "ghost hunter" who stays in places supposedly haunted to debunk the myths and then write about his experiences. After many years of doing that he finally finds one place, a hotel room, which is very different from all the others supposedly "haunted" or "cursed" places he ever saw... Both the story and the film describe his short but eventful stay in room 1408....

As I already said the original story is excellent and EXTREMELY scary! It reminded me of some of H.P. Lovecraft short stories and also of one long passage in one of the earlier Stephen King's book, "Dark Tower III, the Wastelands". In the story the solution is very logical and almost believable (a little hint here - think about how polar bears, who live in the world of icecap, hunt seals, who live in the world of the sea...). The movie is very different from the story, no matter which of the alternate endings you choose, and the result is much less convincing. My advice, if you do not want to have your pleasure spoiled, is to watch the movie first and only THEN read the story - because if you do it in different order, the movie will not taste all that good anymore.

The film is not without merit. John Cusack gives here a very good performance. As it is mostly a "one man show", Samuel Jackson can not really show all his talent, because his appearance is brief. The events which occur in room 1408 are quite creepy and there is at least one VERY scary scene - but sadly, because of the changes in the story made for the needs of this movie, we are also frequently taken out of the room for flashbacks, and they are simply depressing and boring. The character played by Mary McCormack, which doesn't even appear in the original story, is distracting us from the mainline plot rather than adding to it.

So, to conclude, this movie, although honest, is not a real success - if you want to see a really great recent adaptation of Stephen King works, try "The Mist"! That one is REALLY good!

Based on one the short stories from Stephen King in his 2002 collection "Everything's Eventual", '1408' is about an author named Mike Enslin (played by John Cusack) who is writing the next book in his series called The 10 Most Haunted Hotels. Enslin is losing his belief in the supernatural though as he has never actually seen a ghost. Then one day he receives an anonymous postcard telling him not to stay in room 1408 at The Dolphin Hotel in New York.

After convicing the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson) to let him stay in 1408 and being warned that no one who has stayed in the room lasts longer than an hour, Enslin begins to see ghosts of the people that have been killed or died in the room and also experiences ghosts from his own past.

Everyone knows that King's film adaptions usually aren't that good, especially the ones from his short stories (with the exception of Stand by Me/The Body) but 1408 is actually a very creepy and well thought out film. Once Enslin gets into room 1408 things get very strange indeed and may be a little confusing at times, but all does make sense in the end.

Cusack does and excellent job in his role as Enslin and made me wonder what he was thinking about when acting out the part as he does seem genuinely terrified throughout the whole ordeal.

Overall this is a scary, weird and exciting supernatural thriller that both fans of Stephen King and the horror genre in general should enjoy. There's plenty of clever special effects and lots of scares and enough to keep you thinking from start to finish.