The ghost's inside

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2007)

Mike Enslin is a moderately successful writer about the paranormal and a dedicated skeptic. He visits supposedly haunted places and writes about them and it is "just a job." However, when he checks into The Dolphin hotel's room 1408, against the wishes and warnings of the manager, he finds out his is in for a lot more than another boring night as the line between reality and nightmare begins to get thinner...
By the time the film is over someone might think that said line didn't just get very thin... it vanished! And the build up to this collision of real and nightmarish is very interesting. The film starts a bit slow and by the time Enslin gets into the room you are just eager to see what sorts of scares the film has to offer. However, thinking about the sort of drawn out introduction there are plenty of signs, some obvious some not, that are hints and virtually all are referenced later. Even when Enslin first enters the room the build up isn't really slow... it's gradual. Just like that thinning border between reality and nightmare. There is no jump to the other side but more of a slow or even painfully slow drift through some kind of limbo.
The presentation of the supernatural was also pretty interesting. Bearing some similarities to The Shining (also originally written by Stephen King) the supernatural occurrences here aren't just seemingly random frightening occurrences. They start that way, but as Enslin begins to explore his new reality there is a reason for him being faced with the horror in 1408. A reason that hits home for him and that makes the story come full circle and makes a smart use of "ghosts" to explain certain things. And mercifully sparing excessive sappiness or violence. --- 8/10
Rated PG-13 for violent content/terror. Ages 13+.