1408 Movie Review/discussion

Tonight, I am starting the first film of my film blog. Basically I am starting at the beginning of my collection and just going through them, so I hope you enjoy this adventure through film. Also I am trying to avoid spoilers, so read ahead with the confidence that no ending or important twists will be revealed. I am kicking this off with 1408 staring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson, which was released in 2007. This film is based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. Interestingly enough Cusack and Jackson would later go on to work on another Stephen King movie called Cell. Cusack plays Mike Enslin who is a writer documenting haunted locations. In the movie he goes to The Dolphin Hotel in NYC which is managed by Gerald Olin (played by Samuel L Jackson). It is obvious that Enslin doesn't really believe in hauntings, and is just writing the books for financial gain, until he hears about The Dolphin. The hotel manager (Jackson) refuses to rent him the room, and warns him not to go into the room, as it has a long history of deaths and mysterious occurrences, however Enslin will NOT be dissuaded from checking in to room 1408. As the story unfolds you begin to learn more and more about Enslin's past, which helps to create some drama and character development. 1408 is a face paced decent into madness, it is a very intense psychological horror. As far as an adaptation, it isn't completely faithful, but it is nonetheless very well done, of course material was added to turn the short story into a feature length film. The acting was top notch, you can actually feel Cusack's character going insane, and for me while watching it I got the chills, and the strong sensation of impending doom. This may not be one of the best Stephen King movie adaptations, but it is up there. The thing is, it seems like this movie has been forgotten as I rarely see it discussed anymore, and that is a shame, because it was actually really well done, few movies can capture that intense decent into madness that this one captures. This is definitely John Cusack at the top of his game. The special effects, which seemed to be mostly practical effects, with a few digital effects to supplement, were really well done. In some of the special features it was interesting to see how the crew made the room come alive the way they did. Honestly even the slower part that was thrown in for dramatic effect didn't take away from the heart pounding madness of this film. This is a movie that doesn't let up, just when you think you get a chance to breath and sigh in relief, it grabs you and pulls you back into the depths. This movie is a true decent into hell. I have to say that seeing it now for the second time, I appreciate it even more than I did the first time, and it is a movie with rewatchability, as you will see more and more depth in the scenes upon each viewing. I definitely recommend this movie for fans of psychological horror, it is definitely a thrill ride. I also highly recommend after watching this film that you pick up Stephen King's short story collection Everything's Eventual, and read the story that inspired this great movie, because as we all know, they book is always better than the movie.