Review of Movie 1408

Everyone was expecting 1408 to be a great thriller to be produced by the blood of Stephen King and the face of John Cusack. Unfortunately, the movie 1408 was a great super effects, suspense thriller that was filled with moments to make you jump and some confusion.

The plot of 1408 is the story of a haunted hotel buff and writer that chooses to spend the night in a haunted hotel room at the Dolphin Hotel. This choice is made despite the hotel manager begging him not to stay in that particular "evil" room, and even despite the manager allowing him access to the room's scrapbook of deaths. The room has quite a history of various suicides and homicides, yet he is surprised that this room also has claimed twenty-five natural deaths. The manager tells him that nobody has stayed in that room for more than one hour. Judging by the photos in the scrapbook, I don't see why anyone would want too, but haunted houses are specified vacation themes.

The haunted hotel buff/writer, played by John Cusack, accepts all of this as the hotel's elaborate marketing theme. There is a subplot which involves the death of his child and the strangling relationship with his wife. The irony of the situation is that by proving and disbelieving in ghosts, then he is also taking away his last bit of comfort- the comfort in knowing that there is more than death. At the very end, both him and his wife is faced with evidence that there is indeed something after death.

The plot moves along very well and carries the reader into the paranormal reality. However, without reason, things happen- and I don't mean like a bump in the night. There were many exclamations from theater goers asking what something was suppose to mean or what happened. After the movie, I heard an extraordinary amount of people talking about how confusing the movie was. Is it possible that this movie requires quicker eyes or maybe several viewings to understand the full effect? I think so, but who knows. Sometimes movies (and books) just doesn't make sense, even those by Stephen King.

The special effects was spectacular. The producer must have went all out on the graphics production. When I read a book, I picture the way things must look. And with Stephen King books, my imagination gets to have a field day. But usually when it comes time for the movie, the movie is never as good as what I imagined. Of course I didn't get to read 1408 in a novel before I seen it, but I doubt my imagination could have been any better than this movie.