Excellent Performance by Cusack

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 2008)

1408 (2007)
*** (out of 4)
John Cusack plays a writer who spends the night in haunted places just so that he can prove that their legends are false. He eventually spends the night at the Dolphin Hotel in room 1408, which is rumored to have caused the death of over fifty people. As I said earlier, the majority of the crowd was jumping out of their seats from start to finish but I guess I've seen too many of these films to be scared by any of them. I was really letdown because the film is so routine in the horror department that if you've seen one ghost film then you should be able to know where all the jump scares are going to come. Why go ahead and give the film three stars? Because Cusack turns in a downright brilliant performance in his nearly one-man act. Cusack goes through all sorts of emotions throughout the film and he nailed them all perfectly creating a true character instead of just a cardboard cutout of someone who has to jump during certain scenes. His scene with Samuel L. Jackson was very well done by both actors but there's a scene at the end with his daughter, which is incredibly sad and really nails the entire film. I thought the third act of the movie and its multiple endings didn't work very well but the final one will leave some hating it but I rather enjoyed its simple nature. Some have compared this to King's other "haunted" book/film The Shining but this certainly isn't in its league. The build up and Cusack's performance are the main reason to see this film. If you aren't familiar with ghost stories then this might scare you but if you're a vet like me then just sit back and enjoy the performance.