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Stephen King has written so many stories that he’s given up on naming them. Now he just numbers them! Okay, maybe not – but either way, this one is 1408.
1408 is based in the Stephen King short story. It stars John Cusack who’s made it his mission to investigate haunted hotels. Year after year of disappointment in all the hauntings, John becomes a huge skeptic that ghosts or spirits exist at all. Then, he gets an anonymous note in the mail that taunts him into going to the Dolphin Hotel in New York and staying in room 1408. Samuel L. Jackson manages the hotel and really tries to talk John out of staying in that room. But since he doesn’t believe anything will happen there, John ignores Samuel’s suggestion to leave and stays in room 1408. Immediately he knows the room is different…things aren’t right. And before long, the terror in the room is so intense that his life depends on him finding a way out…if there is a way out.
Stephen King stories don’t always make great movies, but this one is better than most. 1408 is extremely intense, primarily due to the phenomenal acting ability of John Cusack. Considering he is alone in half the scenes, his performance and the screenwriter’s creative ways for him to still communicate his emotions to the audience are exceptional. But, like a lot of “scary” movies, 1408 goes from the terrifying subtleties to the annoying obvious. Walls bleeding and evil spirits calling on the phone are too ridiculous to be terrifying. The rules of the supernatural also seem to change midstream, and the story gets fairly confusing. In fact, we’re still not in agreement on how it ended. Nonetheless, it will give you enough creepiness to be worthwhile if that’s what you like.
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On the Movie Night Traffic Light on a scale of GREEN meaning “Go – it’s a must see”, YELLOW meaning “Caution – it’s okay” and RED meaning “No - stop don’t do it."
We rate 1408 YELLOW. Caution – this is creepy, but it isn’t great! |
