The "Haunted House" theme revamped ...

Rating: Null/10 (28 March 2008)

Although the movie takes up the tired "haunted house" plot/theme, strong acting and a clever script manage to keep the movie interesting.
The movie is about a popular author who writes books on haunted hotels. Contrary to what he writes, he's actually a skeptic and thinks everything's a con. Following up on a simplistic message on a postcard, he resolves stay in a particular room at a hotel. He thinks he's being conned by the hotel staff when things start to get strange ... but begins think twice.
One of the best aspects of the movie is that there is a fairly intelligent character who's a skeptic. It is well-played by John Cusack who is constantly trying to dismiss everyone's warnings and all the strange things that occur.
On the minus side, the movie seemed a bit long because a haunted house plot with only 1 main character can only go so far. As movie-goers, we've seen it all. The script is clever, but this genre is a hard wall to climb.
If you like Stephan King stories or supernatural movies, this is definitely worth watching; for everyone else, consider it an above-average movie choice.