No real substance, but a fun and spooky horror movie nonetheless.

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2007)

Stars: John Cusack, Mary McDonnell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Shalhoub.
Though I had some problems with this film, it still was probably the most entertaining horror film I've seen in the last 5 years. One of the main reasons it might have been so fun was having actor John Cusack playing the frightened victim and having Samuel L. Jackson play the hotel manager. When you have two good actors, movies always seem better. The plot for "1408" is pretty simple. Mike Enslin (Cusack) is a disheartened author who used to write well liked novels, and now writes about scary places to go. Enslin ends up at the Dolphin Hotel, home of 56 deaths in one room. When he stays in the room, he learns the truth about the room. I thought the movie could've been really scary, instead of just scary (which it was). It all too often scared the audience by putting them into a cool calm, then having a noise, or something loud jump out. I really liked the music, except for towards the end where I thought it was just getting too dramatic and didn't work. Though there were a few things I didn't like, "1408" was still a great scary movie that I could easily see again.
My rating: *** out of ****. 87 mins. PG-13 for language and violence.