The movie 1408 is a guilty pleasure of mine considering I am a Stephen King fanatic. I originally listened to this tale in 1999 when it was released on a small audiobook collection titled Blood and Smoke. At the time, these stories were reputed to never be available in the written word however all three were then published in Stephen King’s short story collection Everything’s Eventual in 2002. You can imagine my surprise and delight when the movie was released in 2007 starring one of my favorite actors John Cusack.
Because this blog is about my 31 Days of Horror focusing on
movie reviews, I am not going to draw similarities nor poke at differences
between the story and the movie.
Truthfully, I absolutely adore all versions of the tale. Stories and movies about haunted people and
places rank highest on my list of things I like to read and watch. 1408
doesn’t disappoint.
The movie begins by introducing Mike Enslin, played by John
Cusack, as an author who writes about supernatural occurrences at specific
locations. Having published several
books on the topic we find that Mike is truly a skeptic. When he receives an anonymous postcard
warning him not to stay in room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel, Mike does a bit of
research and takes it as a challenge instead of the warning it presents. When the hotel refuses to book a room for
him, Mike enlists the aid of an attorney provided by his agent to find a reason
for them to book his room.
When Mike enters the hotel to check in for the night, he is
met by the hotel’s manager Gerald Olin, played by Samuel L Jackson. Olin warns Mike not to stay in room 1408 and
offers him the opportunity to read a file he has collected on the room and
encourages him to publish whatever he wishes about the room but advises not to stay in the room. He then tells him of the additional deaths,
56 total, that never made the papers because many of them were natural
deaths. None of these tales persuade Mike
and he journeys to the 14th floor to find his room and stay the
night. Even before Mike steps foot
inside the door to room 1408 he experiences strange occurrences. Once inside, it doesn’t take long for the
evil of the room to present itself.
Depending on which version of the movie you purchase or rent,
the ending may be different than that shone in theatres. The original ending was deemed too depressing
and an alternative ending was shot. Two
more alternate endings are available on collector’s versions of the movie.
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