Effective

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2007)

"1408" was an effective scary movie. I typically do not go for this type of movie. I don't believe in ghosts or supernatural phenomena and so just the depiction of either leaves me unimpressed. How well the movie tells the story and pulls you into its world is very important. Too often the premise and execution is just silly and not in the least scary. Frank Booth in "Blue Velvet" was scary. Anyway I enjoyed the movie. It was paced well and slowly revealed the scary bits. I think it was effective because it could be seen as just a mental breakdown of the protagonist, that what was happening was just happening inside his head. I'm going to issue a SPOILER warning here so I don't wreck the watching experience for others but I really want to comment on the false ending. I thought the false ending was effective since it was the way most of these types of movies end and I was ready to leave when things started to go weird again. I was surprised and amused at how effective it was. SPOILER warning defunct. John Cusack was effective in the role of the disbelieving author. He plays the world weary part well. Samuel L. Jackson was good as always. The movie is not a gore fest but is more of a physiological thriller and I recommend it. I give it 7 out of 10 stars.