1408 a successfully suspenseful Stephen King story
Anytime someone adapts a Stephen King book, it is about as hit and miss as the author himself is sometimes. On the one hand you have novels like Carrie, Pet Semetary and Salem's Lot which have been turned into some truly frightening films and The Green Mile was a King adaptation that nearly won several Academy Awards in 1999. On the other hand you have horrible made for TV movies like The Stand, Desperation, and re-makes of The Shining and Salem's Lot that fell short. So when I heard that King's short story, "1408" from his Everything's Eventual collection I was cautiously optimistic because of the talent that John Cusack brings any time he's on film and Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed) being attached as director.
All of my expectations were met and then exceeded as we are introduced to Mike Enslin (Cusack) doing research for one of his many books about haunted places to visit. As we soon find out, Enslin is rather cynical about his job, his faith being shattered due to the loss of his daughter because of a disease that is never revealed in the film. Hafstrom doesn't waste time moving the plot along as Enslin gets a postcard from the Dolphin Hotel in New York with the simple message of: "Don't go in 1408" which peaks his interest seeing as how the number 1408 ads up to unlucky 13. Spooky!
And a trip to New York is certainly an unlucky turn of events for Enslin because that, as Enslin's publisher reminds him, is where he used to live with his wife (Mary McCormack) and daughter (Jasmine Jessica Anthony). But we soon get the hint that Enslin marriage failed after the death of his child and he wants to avoid her at all costs. But Enslin reassures his publisher and himself that it will be a quick job, in and out in one night. No harm done.
Those plans go a bit awry when Enslin checks into the hotel, stopped at every turn by the hotel's manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) from entering room 1408. Olin runs down the laundry list of suicides and deaths that have occurred in 1408, stating that no one in 1408 has ever lasted more than an hour. This does nothing but get the cynical Enslin more eager to check the room out which, by virtue of a legal loophole, he is able to force his way in by threatening a lawsuit.
Olin reluctantly sends Enslin off to room 1408 which he immediately and thoroughly analyzes through his tape recorder, robbing of it of any special quality. But as Enslin is wallowing in his cynicism, odd things begin happening in his room. While he writes these initial instances off logically, the strange factor keeps increasing until he wants out of the room. Unfortunately for Enslin, the room has different plans.
1408 is essentially a one-man show for Cusack who has spent the last couple of years in comedies. Luckily for the audience, Cusack gets to work out all that latent aggression and abuse that he has been holding on to since Being John Malkovich. Running the gamut of emotions Cusack works out the entire path of denial to acceptance in an hour, all the while causing the audience to sympathize with a character who is otherwise a huge jerk.
But Cusack is not alone in 1408, with an unusually subdued performance from Jackson and a pleasing performance from McCormack as the confused and spurned wife, the supporting cast helps bolster Cusack's portrayl of Enslin. The only downside to 1408 is that while Cusack succeeds in being believable, some of the things happening in the room are incredibly far out for a haunted hotel room story. However, Hafstrom does succeed in creating a very tangible sense of dread in the film while it's no The Shining, 1408 is definitely a successful and suspenseful Stephen King adaptation.
Grade: B
