1408
You may wonder if 1408 is Steven King revisiting his seminal work, The Shining. In a ways it is. Creepy hotel. Creepy hotel workers. A writer loosing his mind or is he? All themes and signs that King has worked into his writing throughout his career. If I told you that 1408 was nothing more than a cheap imitation of The Shining, would it surprise you when I told you it isn’t? Perhaps not, but you can still guess all the plot threads in this film.
John Cusack is an unheralded writer in the throes of finishing out his career as the go to guy for ghost hunter guides. He debunks supposedly haunted places. Out of the blue, he receives a card not to spend a night in the titular room of the Dolphin Hotel in New York. After researching it, he has to find out why he shouldn’t and visits anyway. He spends the night in the hotel room. Does he get scared out of his mind? He goes crazy for the hour. And the ghosts and the room get to him.
I read a lot of ghost stories in my time. I can imagine this one as a story rather than a movie. It would seem to have fit in with the later day stories. Not the Victorian ghost stories that I dearly love. They all have a sceptic who falls into a frightening place, and eventually comes to believe in the supernatural.
This movie had some scares. I am glad for it. Because of the prevalence of the new wave of slasher/torture pics coming, the horror genre didn’t seem to be for fun. The movies have been given to being about the violence. Like pulling the wings off a fly for the sake of being sadistic. 1408 was a throw back to just plain atmospheric creeps. No cutting throats or half-sawn faces. Just trying to say, “BOO.”
BOO!
It won’t scare you, but it will on occasion make you have goosebumps. And that’s good enough for me.
3 of 5 stars.
