1408

Review By: Andrea Tuccillo
AndreaTuccillo@TheCinemaSource.com

Mike Enslin (John Cusack) gets a tip about room 1408: Don’t go in. I wish someone had given me that tip. Then I may have stayed away from this clichéd, second-rate “scary story” that has about all the chills of a melted popsicle. Based on a story by Stephen King, 1408 promises scares and thrills yet only disappoints. It even lacks originality—how many horror hotel movies must we endure this year? Vacancy, anyone?

Enslin’s a cynical writer, wasting his talents penning cheesy haunted hotel guides. He researches all of the supposedly spooked hotels himself, debunking the various myths and rumors during his stay. It’s a lonely job, his only companion is the tape recorder he totes around to document his observations. Enslin’s a non-believer in all things supernatural, but it does seem as if part of him wants something out of the ordinary to happen just so it can restore his belief in anything.

When he hears about the mysterious room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, he jumps at the chance to prove that it’s simply yet another fake. He also thinks it will be a great addition to his latest book. Once he arrives he is immediately discouraged from staying in the room by the hotel’s ominous manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson). Olin warns that the room is evil, but Enslin’s not buying it. Not even when Olin tells him that no one has survived in the room past one hour. Some died of natural causes, some committed suicide, one guy even drowned in his chicken soup. But all of his warnings go unheeded of course, and Enslin books the room and prepares for a full night’s stay.

What happens next in the quaint hotel suite is a nightmarish mind trip. While at first Enslin thinks he’s fearless, as the movie progresses he realizes he has some serious fears to overcome. He must face the demons of his past. I suppose the room is a manifestation of these demons. Yeah, I guess that must be it. And maybe I’m just insensitive, but the revelation that Enslin lost a child just seemed like an overused plot device to me. I guess some of Enslin’s cynicism rubbed off on me, because I just wasn’t buying it.

It’s only a matter of time before “bad” things start happening in the room. Enslin gets his fingers crushed in the window, the sink spouts boiling water, the radio blasts a foreshadowing Carpenter’s tune, the musical score swells to build suspense. Are you scared yet? Not likely.

These little nuisances turn out to be only the beginning for Enslin. Images from his past begin to revisit him. Blood drips from the walls, a painting of a ship at sea floods the room, the thermostat goes haywire and turns the room into a freezing tundra, and no matter how hard Enslin tries to leave, all ...