Written by: Stephen King
Screenwriters: Matt Greenburg, Scott Alexander
Larry Karasezewki
Produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura
Directed by: Mikeal Hafstrom
Genre: Horror suspense/Afterlife/Paranormal/
Based on a novel
Rated: PG
Running Time: 94 mins
Theatrical Release: June 22, 2007
Distributor: MGM/Dimension Films
The Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, Mary McCormack, Tony
Shalhoub
There are a lot of spooks, and surprises one can expect to see in this
cinematic version of Stephen King's literary work "Room 1408". "Room
1408" is an adaptation of Stephen's Kings short novel that take us on
a strange phenomenal of hallucinations, and a journey of horror of the
unusual. Like Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller "Psycho", and
Nimrod Antul's "Vacancy" director, Mikeal Hafstrom directs our
attention to a hotel room where the unexpected happens in his newest
release "Room 1408." Lead actor John Cusack portrays a famed occult
writer offers a well acted lead role. Samuel L. Jackson, also offers a
well acted, brief sinister, and gripping lead role that introduces
this movie's antics of horror, and the unexpected in this
psychological thriller.
In this strange and gripping movie, a famous occult writer, Mike
Enslin (John Cusack) makes a visit to New York's Dolphin Hotel. The
Dolphin Hotel is an interesting place for Mike Enslin because of its
legacy of horror that have affected every tenant that checked in its
isolated room 1408. The residents check in, but they don't check out
because they have been murdered or committed have suicide in this
room. Enslin wants to check into room 1408 to investigate these
ghostly findings, and write another successful story for his newest
occult book.
When he meets the hotel manager portrayed by Samuel Jackson, Enslin is
warned not to check into room 1408 because of its hideous legacy.
Enslin insists, and checks into room 1408 upon his check in his
nightmares begin. He encounters a radio that won't turn off, and its
digital numbers spins out of control; he sees a woman jump from a
window, a hideous looking person lunges at him with an ax, bleeding
walls, a decomposed corpse that chase him while he attempts to escape,
and a host of strange noises that echo his room. Encompassed with the
torments of room 1408 Enslin comes to grips with himself and goes on a
pathology of hallucinations of his past and future that seemingly
never ends his dilemma in room 1408.
In closing, I thought this movie was a bit confusing at times when I
saw a sudden shift, and transformation of its sequences of a beach to
a haunted hotel room, a post office, and a hospital room. I asked
myself is this supposed to reflect a man having a nightmare, of an
actual event? I found this part of the script confusing. However, I
would conclude that overall "Room 1408" is a very entertaining horror
movie, and certainly worth a look see to say the least. John Cusack
and Samuel L. Jackson provide good performances in their lead roles.
Horror movie fans this one is for you.
Reviewed by Lisa Smith
(c)2007
This review is also posted at mouthshut.com
http://www.mouthshut.com/user/artsed.html
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