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1408
Mike Enslin (John Cusack) gave up writing novels a long time back (though it's surprising how many people have good things to say about the first one). Now he churns out bestsellers for the horror fact-ion market, insider guides to the best haunted houses you can visit across the US. (Does such a book exist? If it doesn't, surely it should.) His latest title is 'Haunted Hotel Rooms', and an anonymous postcard inviting him to spend the night in the eponymous suite at the Dolphin Hotel seems worth checking out. The hotel manager (Samuel L Jackson) denies any knowledge of the postcard, and does everything he can to dissuade Enslin from taking up the challenge. The room is not open to guests anymore, he says, it's evil. There have been 56 deaths in 75 years, 'and I don't want to clean up the mess.' Reverse psychology, the cynical writer assumes. He's seen it all before; and despite the hokum he puts into print, he doesn't believe in any of it: not God, not the afterlife, and certainly not ghosts. You won't be surprised: he's in for a rude awakening. Inspired by a Stephen King short story, 1408 has a scary premise and a reassuringly robust hero. It's about time we had the privilege of seeing a mature adult male scared out of his wits; recently Hollywood seemed to think horror was something you grew out of when you hit 25. 
Director Michael Hafstrom (Derailed) builds the opening smartly. Frankly the Dolphin does not look too scary. There's a busy, ritzy lobby. The suite itself is utterly standard. You've heard of the banality of Evil? Enslin notes into his pocket voice recorder. If that's true I must be in the seventh circle of hell. There's even a chocolate on his turned down bed. Except. Wait a minute; That bed wasn't turned down when Mike entered the room! What's with wiring in this room anyway!! And whatever you do, don't look out the window!!! For half an hour, this is a terrifically scary movie (it could have been one of the all-time great shorts). There's Enslin talking into his little machine, on his own, wondering what gives with this compact house of horrors. Hallstrom and his production designer throw in lots of clever little touches, some subtle (the crooked paintings on the walls); some less (a radio alarm clock with a fondness for The Carpenters. We've Only Just Begun). The trouble is, unless you're Jean Paul Sartre, there's a limited amount you can do with one man in a locked room. Perhaps scared of doing too little, the movie actually does too much. It keeps trying to up the ante, but this cycle of successive shock treatments is ultimately counter-productive. We realise that for a fresh scare to come along, whatever horror we're watching now must pass. 
For example: Mike loses the power of speech. A hero who can't speak for the last half of the picture? That's a scary thought. But fear not, five minutes later the room has come up with a different gimmick, and Enslin can talk again. 1408 gets bigger and bolder as it goes on, but the more overheated the visuals, the more the movie feels like a put-up job; an extremely sadistic outtake from Jackass, perhaps. A false ending and the trite psychological backstory aren't convincing enough to change that. Cusack is perfectly cast though, and sets about it with a will. In the long, long list of Stephen King adaptations, number 1408 definitely makes it into the top ten. Tom Charity 
Critics' Reviews
A polished Stephen King adaptation from Swedish director Mikael Håfström (Derailed), whose taut psychological... read more on www.timeout.com Members' ReviewsReviews Voted Most HelpfulMost Recent Reviews |
Nigel Floyd, Time Out