The movie had potential, but only offered cheap thrills.

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2007)

I'm not a fan when it comes to other people telling me how a movie is or what other people had said. I rented 1408 disregarding what other people had told me, which was usually this : 'Well I heard it wasn't that good'. But I decided to see for myself.
The movie starts off steadily, we can quickly understand the main character, Mike Enslin (John Cusack), is a writer who has written a bunch of scary books that were mediocre at best. Throughout the movie the viewer develops a better sense of Mike Enslin's personal life and his struggles he has faced throughout his life. He decides to check in to room 1408 where his personal, inner demons come out and taunt him, along with some other ghastly sights.
But please, don't stop reading there.
I anticipated a lot of suspense, a lot of mystery, and quite frankly, a good scare. All of this was possible but didn't show through in the movie. It's a shame that a novel from a distinguished author such as Steven King was poorly portrayed in '1408'. All the 'scary' parts were cheap and short lasting. The aura of suspense quickly turns into boredom as you are waiting for some development throughout the movie.
The movie was meant to display the psychological and mental that Mike Enslin goes through in room 1408, the problem is that the audience fails to associate with that mental torture. I couldn't empathize with the character, and thought that the acting could have been better. Sammuel L. Jackson created a fine performance. John Cusack started off really well, but as soon as he steps into that room he fails to convince me that he is scared, hence I am not. A lot of his acting was limited because the majority of the time he was talking into is tape recorder. It distracts from the action of the movie.
Also, the storyline has so many unanswered questions. You don't get a sense of what is going on. Okay, I suppose you could argue 'well isn't that the whole idea of a scary, suspenseful, movie?' Yes, it is, but there are too many unanswered questions at the end that defeat the whole purpose of the ghostly inhabitants or 'personal demons' of that room.
The music was very good. I won't say it was perfect, but it had it's perks.
Camera angles give you headaches, but to the director's credit, that evened out toward the end. Still, I wish the director thought twice about where he put the camera. Perhaps he was trying to create an aura of confusion...or maybe he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
If you are trying to watch this movie for a scare - do not. This movie will tug some strings in your heart, but will fail to disturb your soul.