'1408'

If one thing there is as old as the belief in ghosts, haunted houses must be it. People seem to believe, and it is further reinforced by paranormal investigators, most ghosts and apparitions are restrained to a space they inhabited in life, or where they died. As such, haunted spaces arise easily, particularly in places charged with heavy emotional energy: sanatoriums, hospitals, Victorian mansions. With the sort of life people lead nowadays, the haunted spaces change to adapt: houses become apartments, studios, lofts and rooms. Today, I wanna talk to you about 1408, which is, in Samuel L. Jackson's own line, not haunted but "an evil fuckin' room". By Sweden director Mikael Håfström, with screenplay based off a short story by Stephen King, 1408 dropped on our laps in the merry year of 2007. Samuel L. Jackson needs no introduction whatsoever, and you can probably recall John Cusack from Being John Malkovitch (1999) or Con Air (1997). It all begins with Mike Enslin, thriller author and fake haunting debunker. Having traveled all across USA territory uncovering hauntings, he is given a scoop about room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel, NY, and being the firm skeptic he is, he decides this is another one he will debunk for his new book. However, fifty-six people have already died inside the bedroom, none of them able to last more than an hour inside without losing their mind or dying - by suicide, murder, or even more bizarre, natural causes. And as soon as he enters the room, just like so many before him, Mike's own issues start coming back to him: his daughter, prematurely dead, the wife he left without an explanation, and the father he holds an unsolved argument with. I think I spoiled it enough as plot goes, so I should warn you now that even more SPOILERS will be flying your way from here on. If you're the sort that dislikes having the movie wrecked for you, stop reading now.

I walked into watching 1408 with some expectations, of course, I've had my share of haunted house flicks. I must say this completely blew everything I was expecting, and proved to be closer to The Shining than to Poltergeist (and no, the reference didn't escape me with Cusack's line about rivers of blood. Scripwriters gave Stephen King a long, firm nod there). Enslin actually solves the mystery of room 1408 right at the movie's beginning: ten minutes after walking inside the room, a trip through Hell begins which takes 60 minutes to be completed. Enslin is taken through several layers of it, which pretty much follow Dante's model of Hell. When the journey is finished, everything starts anew, so he is pretty much stuck in the same time period: he cannot leave the room in any way, he cannot call for aid and his only way out of it is the same many before him have chosen: to "check out" by committing suicide.

If they didn't tell me this was based off a Stephen King story, I might have gotten there. The plot and characters are very like something he'd do. The main character is a writer. Sure sign of Stephen King's presence right there, you can find this in other movies based off his work easily: IT (1990), The Dark Half (1993), The Shining (1980), Salem's Lot (1979), Stand by Me (1986), Misery (1990), and several others. Enslin leads a fairly normal life until the day something odd happens in his presence or he walks into a freakish situation: this is King's trademark style. Flashbacks are also one of Stephen King's most used tools, both for novels and movies, and it's used quite often in 1408 as well. Finally, King is no strange to character death. In fact, the endings of his books and several of his films are usually marked by the death of a character. There is something that is much unlike Stephen King-based films, however: the quality of the flick. I am used to watching Stephen King-based flicks which are made for TV, or as a mini-series... or overall made over ten years ago, which nowadays is the same as made for TV quality. Having seen, let's say, Rose Red (2002) which was made as a miniseries, I was very positively surprised with 1408.

You'll find many signs of haunting which are classical, and if you're the kind that always wants something new, you're in for a slight disappointment. The tap that spurs water all of a sudden, spectral voices, radio and TV coming on without human intervention, bleeding walls, little kid ghost, paintings that change, Enslin thinking he's out but he's not, electronic devices going to Hell, all of these are classical. I still like how the main character deals with the shit happening to him, however: Cusack is very good on this. While being frightened looks very legit, what comes across better is frustration. As sound goes, another pleasant surprise. I particularly like the slightly disturbing, slightly unnerving tunes we get from time to time. They don't become loud enough to deter you from what's happening, they don't spoil what's happening next (the "scary music = spooky shit a-comin'" syndrome). Usually, the tunes are used for marking and enhancing events instead of predicting them. You also have a theme song of sorts, We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters. I already thought that band was creepy, now I'm sure! (I'm dead serious, have you taken a good look at Karen Carpenter's pictures? Shit...)

I have found, during my lurking around forums about the movie, there seems to be a second ending, in which Mike is supposedly alive and his wife hears the recording of their daughter's voice. I can't seem to find this anywhere, as I've seen the other ending: Mike's dead and the room is torched down. I also found out a lot of people seem to be calling this a horrible flick because it didn't scare them. On that part I must sadly agree: the movie disturbs slightly, it's odd, but not necessarily scary. It's pretty good, there were a couple scenes that actually made me a bit spooked, but not scared. A third issue very present in forums seems to be that the tale is better... well, having seen so many adaptations, folks, I can tell you it's hard to find an occasion in which the written word isn't better than the movie.

Finally... what the Hell was wrong with 1408. This seems to be the most criticized thing in the movie. Theories about drugged drinks and dreams were shot everywhere across the Internet, but Samuel L. Jackson's explanation seems to be the closer to the truth: it's an evil room. I dislike it too when things go about unexplained, but not like 1408. I dislike it when things happen out of nowhere, for instance, like the last thirty minutes of anything by Takashi Miike. I dislike it when things start off being logical and then go to smithereens at the end because screenwriters got stuck. I dislike it when the solution for a big mystery comes out of nowhere, or it's too obvious and the main cast didn't see it, this is the "lacks of explanation" I dislike. You could say it's lack of consistency I dislike. But you don't see it here: the manager doesn't know what's wrong with the room, only something is. Mike can't figure out what's wrong with the room either. Nobody can figure out what's wrong! Consistent from beginning to end! And let me tell you, kudos to Stephen King as unexplained shit is concerned. Try reading some of his tales: it's mostly unexplained.

It's a very decent movie, overall, one you can enjoy easily over a pack of chips (it's something like 90 minutes long). Don't hope to be too scared, though, it's entertaining and interesting, but not overly scary. But it's well-made and you'll probably like it. Give it a shot: it's even in YouTube in several parts.