Goremongral's Review: 1408

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2007)

John Cusack has always been one of my favorite actors...come on the guy has made some kick ass movies and my personal favorite 80's comedy "Better Off Dead"!!! Enough of that though John always seems to go for the not so normal film which I love but in this case "1408" we get a movie that offers entertainment, but only in moderation.
Cusack stars as Mike Enslin a paranormal investigator/writer of sorts that goes to all the hot haunt spots then writes a review of the stay and its general creepiness. One day he receives a postcard for a place called the Dolphin Hotel which has an infamous room 1408 that so happens to have killed a lot of people. After talking with the manager of the hotel Gerald Olin (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who all but begs him not to stay in the room Mike proceeds to stay in the room for the night.
Mr Olin tells Mike that no one has survived for more than 1 hour in the room. Shore enough after some minimal meandering the alarm clock goes crazy and shows a countdown timer of 60 minutes and begins a countdown. From there Mike has to endure a living hell as visions of past and present collide attempting to cause him to end his life and the suffering.
The movie is a sort of cerebral haunted house film that works in parts and in others not quite as well. This is due to some rather mediocre scenes that really do not pay off and end up being a tad boring. There is some entertaining things here don't get me wrong, the humor is typical dead pan Cusak and the scenes with Mike and Gerald are really well done and there are some good scenes of suspense here and there but I left the theater feeling like there was so much more that they could have done here to make for a complete thriller experience.
Do to some lulls in the story and some parts that went on a tad to long at times I give 1014 a modest yet slightly better than average score of: 6/10: Above Average: haunted house fans don't expect to see tons of ghouls and specters but those into head trips and mind games in the paranormal realm take a look. Just be prepared for a mediocre middle act that could have been so much more.