Frightening and Disturbing

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2012)

I'm not a person that gets scared by cheap horror stories, not even when the master Stephen king is at his worst, but I certainly remember 1408. I read this short story quite a while ago right before bed, and I remember it made it quite hard to fall asleep after reading it. When I found out they'd made a movie out of it, I decided to see it as soon as i could and was not disappointed one bit.
The movie has managed to be just as disturbing as the book. This isn't a story of ugly monsters jumping out from the dark corners of a room, and while it does have a few of those of those gratuitous moments, the true horror in this movie lies within the psychological torture that john cusack's character is put thru. Everyone in the theater was leaning forward in their seats at the same time, and the calls of "oh my god" came from most people present as the entity tortures him in ways that are ever more cruel and disturbing.
I no longer remember the story well enough to know if it follows the book to the letter, but it doesn't have to and you don't care when you watch it.
John Cusack is flawless in his role, and he has to be since the movie is mostly just him alone with The Room. I did appreciate Samuel L Jackson as well, even though they seemed to have cast him just so he could drop an F bomb at the right time, which is getting tiring.
This story, whether it be in movie or book form, is not for the feint of heart, but if you want to see what true horror is about, this is one you can't miss.