Another Stephen King short story for the screen

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2007)

John Cusack is the author of cheesy books about haunted places. The movie begins showing him at a local lodge where he spends the night in a supposedly haunted room which turns out to be perfectly normal. He heads back to L.A. and goes surfing where he gets knocked down by a wave and banged on the head with his surfboard. Next he's at a diner reading his mail and sees a postcard that says "Don't enter 1408." The card is from the Dolphin Hotel in New York. Intrigued, Cusack talks his manager into booking him into the room. (Add up 1408 = 13)
At the Dolphin Hotel, Samuel L Jackson plays the manager. He does not want Cusack to stay in 1408 but after a long scene of haggling, he agrees. Cusack checks into the room. From this point on in the film all sorts of strange things start to happen. It's Cusack alone in the room, basically for the rest of the film.
Frankly, the previews of this film make it seem much better than it actually is. After all the bizarre things that happen there is really no payoff or explanation. The only way to explain the film is that it must be a nightmare or hallucination. There is no logical explanation. I like Cusack but he really didn't need to be in this film. Neither did Samuel L. Jackson.
Another missed adaptation of a Stephen King short story.