1408: Movie Review, DVD Review
9/28/2007 Posted by Admin
"1408" From Mikael Hafstrom, a horror film that eschews today's penchant for torture porn and gets back to the basics.
In this case, that means shrieking ghosts reliving their deaths by leaping from hotel windows, scratchy sounds coming from behind bleeding walls, and a sense of claustrophobia that nibbles away at the screen like one of the rats in "Ratatouille."
From Stephen King's 2002 short story, the film stars John Cusack as Mike Enslin, a trash writer of kitschy guide books that seek out presumably haunted locales for those interested in visiting them.
Though Enslin himself doesn't believe in ghosts, he changes his tune soon enough after a stay at New York City's dusty Dolphin Hotel, where 56 people have died tragic deaths over the years in room 1408 and where the manager (Samuel L. Jackson) tells him he won't live to see the next hour.
Enslin scoffs at the idea. Besides, if there is a satanic hellfire burning in that room--and he seriously doubts it--it's nothing he can't handle.
Those who believe he's wrong should raise up their Bibles now and turn up their Christian rock.
With its disarming sense of humor, its effective use of ghosts and its willingness to depend on suspense rather than gore to give its audience a jolt, "1408" might suffer from lapses in logic, but with Cusack believable within the unbelievable, those lapses are easy to overlook.
Rated PG-13. Grade: B
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In this case, that means shrieking ghosts reliving their deaths by leaping from hotel windows, scratchy sounds coming from behind bleeding walls, and a sense of claustrophobia that nibbles away at the screen like one of the rats in "Ratatouille."
From Stephen King's 2002 short story, the film stars John Cusack as Mike Enslin, a trash writer of kitschy guide books that seek out presumably haunted locales for those interested in visiting them.
Though Enslin himself doesn't believe in ghosts, he changes his tune soon enough after a stay at New York City's dusty Dolphin Hotel, where 56 people have died tragic deaths over the years in room 1408 and where the manager (Samuel L. Jackson) tells him he won't live to see the next hour.
Enslin scoffs at the idea. Besides, if there is a satanic hellfire burning in that room--and he seriously doubts it--it's nothing he can't handle.
Those who believe he's wrong should raise up their Bibles now and turn up their Christian rock.
With its disarming sense of humor, its effective use of ghosts and its willingness to depend on suspense rather than gore to give its audience a jolt, "1408" might suffer from lapses in logic, but with Cusack believable within the unbelievable, those lapses are easy to overlook.
Rated PG-13. Grade: B
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January 14, 2011 at 5:40 PM
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