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Comments
"For star John Cusack, it's a perfect fit and, with a little massaging from the Weinstein Co., should emerge as one of the surprise hits of the summer."
""1408" is a creepshow that delivers, although viewers may have second thoughts about ordering room service."
"1408 is the Shining Light. "
1408 is one of the few recent horror films to generate a real creepiness which puts it into a category far above the recent spate of torture-porn films. There are moments when you really don’t want to be in that theatre with those images. The question is can the film sustain that level of unease and the answer is Yes! with only occasional lapses into over-the-top CGI effects.
Clocking in at an efficient 94 minutes, 1408 is a first-class effort all the way and the first genuine nightmare haunt to come along since Nicole Kidman got lost in that empty mansion in The Others.
The script, by Matt Greenberg, Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, is a necessary expansion and embellishment of the very short source tale. And their narrative does, perhaps inevitably, run out of steam in the late going, after generating a few jolting scares.
As for the ending, which is somehow too much and too little at the same time, the triumvirate of screenwriters fails to find the elusive last piece of their own puzzle.
But they do manage to dish out quite a few shivers along the way.
For long stretches, this is a one-man show not unlike the solitary-confinement Tom Hanks vehicle, Cast Away.
And the likable and empathetic Cusack makes it look easy, never pushing or begging, yet always engaging us.
1408 is one spooky paranormal frightfest.
It may not be fulfilling, but if you're willing, it's chilling.
A Stephen King adaptation about a guy alone in a hotel room with some foul presence and a bunch of lost souls sounds like the low-rent version of the author‘s "The Shining," which had an entire resort hotel in which evil could roam.
Yet "1408" generally survives and thrives on the strength of John Cusack ‘s passionate performance as a skeptic of the supernatural who learns that spooks may be real, plus a spirited supporting role by Samuel L. Jackson Samuel L. Jackson and some effective chills by director Mikael Hafstrom and his effects crew.
Much of the story plays out seemingly within the head of Mike Enslin (Cusack), a writer with so much emotional baggage and cynicism that he‘s an obvious mark for the forces of evil to sink their fangs into.
Mike‘s been in a state of denial for ages — over murky memories of his dad, over terrible adversity involving his wife ( Mary McCormack ) and their daughter (Jasmine Jessica Anthony), over his profession as a haunted hack, writing books about hotel ghosts that he does not for a moment believe in.
But Mike‘s a confirmed disbeliever, a man who advises that Disney‘s the Haunted Mansion is the best place to see ghosts and that the real value of supernatural stories is to boost business for forgotten little hotels bypassed by the interstates.
He figures it‘s a gimmick, an attempt by a struggling hotel to grab some publicity. Turns out the Dolphin‘s manager (Jackson, who is pure elegance and efficaciousness in a surprisingly small role) will do anything to keep Mike from staying in the room, from pleading to shock tactics to a bribe of really expensive booze.
Over the decades, Mike learns, 56 people have died in room 1408 — by suicide, heart attack and stroke, even a drowning by chicken soup. One man cut his own throat in the room, then tried to stitch it back together.
A clock radio keeps clicking on, playing tinnier and tinnier versions of the Carpenters‘ "We‘ve Only Just Begun," a wicked choice that becomes cleverer as the terrifying night drags on with no end in sight.
Is it real? Is it all in his head? The movie‘s not-altogether-satisfying ending spells it out pretty clearly and seems an unnecessary Hollywood concession, letting the audience off with an easy answer.
"1408," released by MGM and Dimension Films, is rated PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language. Running time: 94 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Universal's "Evan Almighty" led the weekend box office, taking in $11.3 million at just over 3,600 locations, according to Friday estimates.
Stephen King adaptation "1408," starring John Cusack, scared up $7.7 million for MGM and the Weinstein Co. That was good enough for second place heading into the weekend.
The producers said: "It cost $25 million [to make]. Anything over $30 million and we make a profit."
John Cusack gives a tour de force performance and the director, for the most part, stays away from conventional horror movie scares but not always sadly.
I'd give it 3.5 out of five.
Now, bring on The Mist!
First weekend box office take: $20.2 million
Pretty good!