Interesting and Compelling King

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2008)

Whenever I go into a ghost movie, I go into it playing ghost hunter and paranormal detective. My mind is always in "Yes, that's happened," "Aw, come on..." and "Would never happen." Hollywood rarely gets it right when it comes to trying to depict the supernatural, and when it's Stephen King, reality goes out the window. King may be inspired by the paranormal, but he generally brings your worst fears to life. In his latest movie venture, John Cusack plays a writer with a past over his head who doesn't believe in ghosts and goes around exposing them with pure cynicism with the artful styling of a seasoned writer. When he heads to Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel, he is there to challenge it, but it proves to challenge him. Samuel L. Jackson plays the elegant yet austere hotel manager with all the pomp and grace of the grim reaper trying to talk him out of it. It's never explained just who sent the post card that sends Cusack to the hotel: the manager trolling for victims or the spirit of his dead daughter trying to warn him. Both Cusack and Jackson give intense roles, and the haunting activity and Cusack's rambling soliloquy and flashbacks keeps it from becoming too claustrophobic. In the end, even the audience feels trapped in the room. It's an excellent movie of the supernatural as explained by and deciphered by the mind of Stephen King. It's definitely worth a watch as long as you look for all the references to the number thirteen.