“1408” (Dimension Films)
Falls Apart When It Is Time To Check Out
John Cusack stars in “1408,” a thriller based on a short story by Stephen King. This is a movie with a fair amount of chills, but it paints itself into a corner with its story of a haunted hotel room. When it comes time for the movie to end, the film cops out and leaves the audience disappointed.
Mike Enslin (Cusack) is a writer who debunks “haunted” places. He goes to different haunted locales and finds out the truth behind the legends. He then collects these facts, turns the stories into books and makes his living that way.
One day he learns about a supposed haunted room, number 1408, in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City. He browbeats the hotel manager (Samuel L Jackson) into letting him rent the room for a night. Legend is that no one has ever lasted longer than one hour in the room, and when they do leave it is usually feet first.
Once inside the room Enslin finds himself mystified by all the strange occurrences. Soon he is ready to leave but the room will not let him. It seems he has been picked as a victim and the room is determined to have its way with him.
One way the room tortures Enslin is by bringing up memories of his dead daughter (Jasmine Jessica Anthony). This is his key weakness and the room knows it. Enslin is allowed to reach out to his wife (Mary McCormack) by internet service, but his contacting her only puts her life at risk.
The movie does a very good job of showing the horrors Enslin faces, but having done so it has to figure out a way to end it all without alienating the audience. That it can’t do. The ending as written becomes a cop-out and leaves the audience dissatisfied.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Cusack does a very good job in keeping the audience interested in Enslin from beginning to end. It is virtually a one man show so Cusack had better be good – and he is. Jackson is cool and creepy as the manager, even being a touch mephistophelean. McCormack doesn’t have much to do, but Anthony makes a strong impression as her daughter.
With the right ending this could have been a minor horror classic. As is, it is a good movie that just falls apart at the end.
I scored “1408” a checked out 5 out of 10.
