We've Only Just Begun

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2007)

John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson star in this adaptation of Stephen King's short story 1408, the story of a skeptic writer who spend the night in a hotel room which turns out to be an authentic source of unbridled evil. Mike Enslin (Cusack) has been writing about ghosts for a long time now but seriously doubts ever coming into contact with one. So when he receives a postcard warning him about a haunted room in the Dolphin Hotel, Enslin jumps at the chance. After the hotel owner's prophetic speeches on the room's danger, Enslin accepts the challenge. After a few minutes in the hotel room, Enslin resigns himself to believing that all the stories were hocus pocus. But when the clock radio begins playing We've Only Just Begun by the Carpenters untouched, thus begins one skeptic man's journey in the abyss of the unexplained. John Cusack gives a wonderful, authentic performance as Enslin, slowly making us care about his character and Samuel L. Jackson, although his screen time is ultimately limited, is a deadpan delight in an underplayed but effective performance. It has been said that PG-13 is one of the worst things to happen to the horror genre, and that's probably true, but this is one of those rare exceptions. The film pulls you in and freezes you in place as the evil unravels before your very eyes.