1408 (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) | List Price: $24.95
Discount Price: $3.00
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Binding: DVD
Release Date: 2007-10-02
A surprisingly good and atmospheric Stephen King adaptation [Posted on 2008-11-17]
I'd put off seeing 1408 for a while, namely based on the fact that PG-13 rated horror just doesn't do much for me. Not to mention that I can't remember the last Stephen King adaptation, except for The Mist, that was actually pretty good. Well, I'm happy to say I finally gave 1408 a chance, and walked away quite satisfied, especially by the longer director's cut of the film that takes up the second disc of this Two-Disc Collector's Edition. John Cusack stars as Mike Enslin, a jaded and somewhat haunted author who travels around to supposedly haunted places to debunk their myths. Upon hearing of the bloody history of the Dolphin Hotel's haunted room 1408, Mike ends up taking it on, despite the warnings of the hotel's manager (Samuel L. Jackson). Needless to say, Mike gets much more than he bargained for, and it isn't long before he starts becoming a believer. Directed with efficient dread and perfect pacing by Mikael Håfström, 1408 is carried by a spectacular performance from Cusack, and some truly scary moments to boot. And while the theatrical version of the film isn't bad, it's the director's cut with an alternate ending that really deserves your attention, making 1408 one of the better Stephen King adaptations to see the light of day in the past few years. All in all, if you're in the mood for some great suspense that actually will keep you guessing how it'll all end; 1408 is definitely worth a trip.
(3.5 STARS) Above Average Stephen King Adaptation with John Cusack's Strong Acting [Posted on 2008-11-24]
The story is pretty simple. A man stays in a cursed room in a New York Hotel. The Dolphin Hotel's "Room 1408" is actually "an evil room," the hotel manager says, where more than 50 guests have committed suicide there (one drowned in his chicken soup). Ignoring the warning words of the manager, a jaded writer Mike Enslin checks in the room where he encounters a series of creepy events. Mike, who doesn't believe in these paranormal events, must endure the terrifying 60 minutes there.
Had it not been for John Cusack who plays the skeptic protagonist Mike, "1408" could have been an unwatchable mess. John Cusack and his strong acting successfully provide tension and occasional humor to the familiar story while the superb production designs and the photography of the dimly-lit interiors give the film an authentic feel. Samuel L. Jackson appears as the hotel manager Gerald Olin, but his role is just an extended cameo and the film is virtually about Cusack's hero and the room itself.
However, in spite of its gripping first half, the film gradually loses steam, not knowing where to go. Whatever the room does, the room does anyway, and there are not many options it can eventually take. The Carpenters song is a nice touch, but director Mikael Håfström takes too much time to lead us to the climax, and some of the tricks you will see are nothing new and sometimes look repetitious.
"1408," based on a Stephen King short, has familiar elements seen in numerous haunted house stories (in book or film) of the past, most notably, "The Shining" - both stories centering on isolated space, for example - but their approach is different. I enjoyed watching "1408" for the most part, but it is also true that I couldn't shake off the feeling that I saw it all elsewhere.
Catalogue of horror special effects [Posted on 2008-11-30]
Our protagonist goes in an hotel that has an haunted room (1408, at least it wasn't 666). At first the only horrific thing he notices is the hideous wallpaper. Then all usual ingredients show up.
Let's see...electric appliances going on of their own, check!Unsettling music, check! Scary ghosts, Check! Eerie unhearthly lights, check! Homicidal madman with ax, check! Walls spilling blood, check! Dead children appearing, check! Ghastly pictures on walls running wild, check! Zombies, check!Desperate fugue in labyrinth, check!
But... wait a moment! Didn't we see it all in Kubrick's Shining?
That's right. We saw it, and it was a masterpiece, contrary to this confused and confusing drivel.
Neither scary nor entertaining [Posted on 2009-01-04]
Sorry, but anyone who places this film on par with The Shining is just plain uninformed. The only thing even slightly redeeming in 1408 is Cusack's performance, which is strained, I believe, to make-up for the utterly uninspired directing and flat screen write. This film is just going through the motions.
I liked it. Here's why. [Posted on 2009-01-06]
OK now a lot of people who give this movie a bad review seem to be forgetting a few things. First off, I wouldn't really call this a horror movie. It's more of a mystery/ghost-story.
***SOMEWHAT OF A SPOILER BUT NOT REALLY***
John Cusack dominates the entire movie with stone-faced brilliance in a way only he can. But the thing that makes this movie so awesome is that you never really know if he's imagining what's happening to him or if it's real. The movie really keeps you guessing until the very end and even then it's kind of left somewhat up in the air. It is apparent as the movie gets going that Cusack's character has his own inner demons he needs to face down, and it's growingly ambiguous whether or not the "ghosts" he faces in that room are his own, or the room's. It's all very psychologically driven, so hardcore horror fans who love the fast-paced gorefest will probably be bored by this movie.
Also, I notice a lot of people who negatively review the movie claim that the scares in it are cheap and run-of-the-mill. For me personally, I think Stephen King worked it this way on purpose. I mean he's Stephen King for crying out loud; he's the horror genius. You don't think he can think of better or more original scares than to make the walls drip blood? Cusack's character is a jaded not-easily-scared writer, so all these cheap B-movie horror-flick type scare shots are just there to test his belief system. Because when King wants to scare you, or at least make you feel eerie, he accomplishes it.
I took off one star because I thought they could've done better if they'd made the film an R-rating. Not to mention, and again this is a kind of a spoiler, that Samuel L. Jackson's role is totally ambiguous, even the room itself is totally ambiguous. So it's his inner demons then? Then why'd the room kill all those other people? The end is totally unclear, for my dumb brain at least. So that's why I took off a star.
***REAL UNAMBIGUOUS SPOILER AHEAD***
All in all, what few reviewers seem to mention or notice is that this is much more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie. It has that same psychological element that the Saw movies do, for me at least, in that they force the character(s) to brave something terrible to realize how much they want to live. Cusack's character was like the walking dead before he met that room. That room forced him to face his demons and realize that he wants to live, REALLY live. And believe.
Maybe it's a bit corny but it's how I interpreted the movie.
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