1408 (Håfström, 2007)

[ozzylogic]

Director: Mikael Håfström (Derailed)

Writer: Matt Greenberg (screenplay) and Scott Alexander (screenplay)

Release Date: 22 June 2007 (USA)

Genre: Horror / Thriller

Plot Outline: A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror. (IMDB)

Based on a short story by Stephen King, John Cusack stars as Mike Inslin, a writer who debunks haunted houses for a living through his books. His opinions however, change after he stays in room 1408 for a night.

Watched this over the weekend, and it's pretty good. Not as scary as expected, and the plot does begin to drag near the end. Too bad Samuel Jackson's screentime is a tad over a cameo appearance. But it's still good, clean fun.

[kaytee]

The trailer looks pretty creepy, and the director has a knack for the horror genre, so I might catch this on the big screen too.

[ozzylogic]

It's pretty good, which is expected, as I found Stephen King's short stories better (sometimes) than his huge novels.

[kaytee]

Watched it, didnt like it too much, went overboard at times, loved John Cusack too, only a couple of creepy sccenes, the camera work was A1 but the script was a let down.

2.5/5

[madali]

1408 (Håfström, 2007)
IMDB Link

American mainstream movies always overdoes everything. In “1408”, there was an opportunity to have a tight, low-key horror movie, and instead the director just cums all over the wall and our faces.

This is a Stephen King adaptation, so yes, the main character Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a writer, like a billion other stories by him. Mike is a crappy horror writer who just visits scary places (mansions, graveyards, hotel rooms, etc) and writes about them. He is a skeptic, so he is smug about everything, until scary shit happens.

Which is great until the scary shit is multiplied by a hundred. We go from creepy dead ghosts that Mike sees in the hotel room, to it breaking apart, and having a huge WAVE OF WATER COMING OUT OF A PICTURE.

Did the movie remain as it was in the first two acts, “1408” could have been a really good King adaptation. But it eventually turns into a movie about explosions, fires, and cold winters.

3/5

[kaytee]

I completely agree Mad, I didnt like the whole special affects of water and shit happening in the room, it was great till we knew weird things were happening and didnt know who were doing them...

[madali]

I also really hate the "wakes up, phew it was all a dream, OMG IT WASNT!!!" gimmick that some movies have.

[X.]

Just finished watching it.

What a frustrating experience. The tone went all screwy in the last half hour. Some terrible dialogue and acting from Mary McCormack and Tony Shahloub. How many endings were there? What the fuck happened at the very end?

On the up side, the cinematography and production design was superb. This film looks gorgeous. Lots of obvious Hitchcock and Kubrick homages.