1408

 
1408, Stephen King’s most accomplished adaptation of one of his short stories, to date, earned high praise for the impeccable and superior acting talents of John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson---and for, the nightmarishly inventive and classically played out ghost story, which didn’t rely heavily on flashy gimmicks, or over indulgent money shots. Instead, it centered itself on the demonic personality of 1408; a cursed, and death-filled room located on the fourteenth floor of the historic and elegant Dolphin Hotel, in New York City.

Mike Enslin (John Cusack) an arrogant, disengaged, consumed man, whose brilliant career as a travel writer in search of paranormal and unexplainable occurrences, prides himself on his “keen awareness”, “open-mindedness” and “professional” hands-on research of getting inside of the bellies of supposedly haunted hotels and graveyards, where ghastly occurrences have been sited.

Mike’s latest book in the works, “Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms" has him requesting room 1408. Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) the manager of the Dolphin Hotel tirelessly tries to covey to Mike that room 1408 is evil, and never, ever, will to be opened to any guest, at any time, again.  And that is what feeds Mike’s unflinching and always suspicious mind of not backing down on a story---ever!

Masterful, macabre, and drenched in tense and shocking horror, 1408 will not let you down. Numerous scenes, frankly many of them back to back are what made 1408 a visually and mind-numbingly intense, heart racing, and emotionally solid ghost story to watch play out. As well as, anticipating what would elude us next. One of the creepiest scenes though, is when Mike looks out his window to get the attention of someone in an apartment building across the street---dementedly disturbing, in a very delicious way.

1408 not only will scare you, but it’ll amuse you with its campy humor, and through the heartache of explaining what’s truly been eating away at Mike for so long. 1408 is one of the best horror/ghost stories to have come out in a while. I’ve already reserved a place on my shelf for the DVD. (: