I Watch 'Em So You Don't Have To

1408 (2007)


Who doesn't love John Cusack? I mean honestly. Has there ever been a movie where he was just not likable? Just the sight of him makes a little voice in your head say "I want my two dollars." (I'm not explaining that one, if you're not old enough, tough.) John has consistently been good whether the movies were good or not. He's been in silly ones. He's been in serious ones. He's been in thrillers. In this outing, he runs smack dab into the horror genre.


1408 is a short story written by Stephen King. At first you think 'uh oh', because the treatment of some of his short stories has been.... lacking. Children of the Corn. Sometimes They Come Back. The Lawnmower Man. And so on. You just don't know if they're going to do them justice, or drag them out into a series of movies that eventually (or quickly in some cases) have nothing to do with the original story. This short story became a movie that was 106 minutes. So you think: 'How are they going to ruin this? And why are they doing this to poor John Cusack?'




Ah, but this is a pleasant surprise. One of those rare smart horror movies that has a tight storyline, good premise, excellent actors and lots of thrills and chills. The treatment of this movie is pleasantly even, and moves along at a good clip up to the very end.


Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is an LA writer who, after losing his young daughter to cancer and separating from his wife, goes from serious writing to - let's say pulp fiction. He writes about supposedly haunted places such as motels, graveyards, etc. However he neither believes in any of it, nor in heaven or God either. He sarcastically dictates into his tape recorder the 'spooky' stuff happening in the places he visits though there is nothing and he has never seen anything. One day he gets a postcard from The Dolphin Hotel, which is in New York, where he's originally from and where his estranged wife still lives. On it the message simply says 'Stay away from 1408'. He's intrigued, this is different than the dozens of brochures and invitations he gets from places wanting to appear in his books.



I'll fast forward past all the trouble it takes for him to get the room (the manager, Gerard Olin played solemnly by Samuel L. Jackson does everything but offer him the whole city to keep him from 1408). He learns that dozens of people have died in it - both violently and naturally. 'No one has ever lasted more than an hour' Odin promises him.


It slows down a little because he goes in and it's - a hotel room. That's it. Once again, he's been duped he believes. And nothing does happen - for a couple of minutes.


When the action starts, it doesn't stop - there is virtually little pause from one scare to the next. When Mike decides enough is enough (after maybe five minutes) he finds the door will not open, and the clock radio by the bed (which inexplicably keeps playing 'We've Only Just Begun' by The Carpenters) has set itself to one hour and begins a downward count.


He goes through a ton of horrors, and as time progresses the horror gets personal, involving his past, his regrets, his grief over the loss of his daughter.


The movie has a period of 'is this real or is that real' as he finds himself back home having never gone to the hotel (which I usually hate but they give this a good treatment) and ultimately he discovers he has to beat the room before it kills him because it is never going to let him go.


It's very hard to find a good, halfway intelligent movie anymore, especially in the horror genre. That's why I really recommend this one. You have a sympathetic character, a spooky environment (it's as if he is in a room at the Overlook Hotel and can't get out and no I'm not explaining that one either), good action pace and an ending that is consistent with the story. Check it out if you get a chance.