Frightening but a bit over the top

Rating: 6/10 (4 April 2017)

"1408" is one of the movies that can give you a hard time when you're watching it at home alone in the dark. We get to know the story of an author that earns his living writing books about haunted hotels, who has to realize that not every case is just a hoax. Of course this is a story already told so often that it is quite a lazy attempt to reflect this in the movie itself. This is by no means a creative movie, regarding the story. Nonetheless it is quite enjoyable for a number of reasons.
The movie starts off rather slowly, the first paranormal phenomenons are still quite decent and that's something I really liked. Later on, unfortunately, they get the hammer out and at the latest when our hero lays in a room covered in snow, things shifted towards a bit too much. So why should you give this movie a try then? Because it achieves one of the most crucial things a horror film can achieve: It actually makes you feel uneasy. You can relate to the situation of the protagonist and you want to get out. It is exactly this feeling that makes this movie something special, achieved through clever ideas, a bit of well-proved horror tools and some plot-twists.
You don't necessarily have to have seen this movie, I wouldn't go that far. But if you're looking for some paranormal frightening action, this is what you're searching for.