Ryan ChartrandWhat better way to start off this year’s summer films than with John Cusack battling against a creepy, unforgiving hotel room? Oddly enough, it’s a good start indeed.
But it’s not just any hotel room. As Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the hotel’s manager, says, “It’s one fucking evil room.”
From the director of “Derailed” comes “1408,” or what started as a Stephen King short story about a room, a guy and a party full of tension.
Horror novelist Mike Enslin, played by Cusack, is afraid of nothing. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, yet visits haunted locations and writes books about his experiences to give his readers cheap thrills.
Then he visits room 1408, or what appears to be a normal hotel room in an upscale New York hotel. No one has ever lasted more than an hour inside of it, yet Enslin insists on staying the night. And so the ride begins.
Like any ghost or evil supernatural entity, the room forces Enslin to face his past and work his problems out in order to survive. I’m not quite sure who came up with this idea originally, but ghosts in horror films tend to act like hardcore psychiatrists that literally try to beat your problems out of you.
The room itself is ever-changing in size, temperature, structure and who is inside of it. As Enslin is forced to remember life before his daughter died at a young age, everything around him begins to fall apart and the acid trip really starts to amplify.
“1408” has its strongest moments in the first 15 minutes of being in the room. As it turns out, the more subtle thrills created by slight changes in the room, such as a radio spontaneously blasting “It’s Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters or a painting suddenly turning slightly, are far more frightening than when the CGI kicks in and makes it into a dramatic Hollywood thriller.
“1408” shines when it focuses on creating a painfully uncomfortable mood rather than trying to make you jump (which it never really does). Keeping it quiet, dark and as realistic as possible made the imagery have a far more lasting impression on the mind. It’s a lesson that all filmmakers should learn: less is more in the world of thriller films, as it doesn’t take a flood of effects (literally or figuratively) to scare the hell out of someone. But there are a few creative scenes that the special effects do enhance in “1408.”
If I had to choose between Cusack and the room itself as to who put on the better performance, Cusack would win (barely). It is literally a one-man show as anyone else involved is either not really there or jumping out of windows. Cusack does an excellent job going through an exhausting series of changing emotions that all come together to tell a heartfelt back story that you wouldn’t expect from such a film.
While the film’s plot is hard to wrap up, it feels a bit rushed when everything finally comes to an end. It leaves no explanation as to why some evil being loves torturing people in the room, but it’s definitely arguable whether it needs explaining.
“1408” is a different kind of summer thriller in that it not only has a story (i.e. characters that are actually developed), but it has originality and a surprisingly large amount of creativity packed into a mere 90 minutes.
If when you get home you begin questioning whether something in your house moved while you were gone, then “1408” has done its job.