Good thrills but lacks story

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2007)

After the death of his daughter author Mike Enslin (John Cusack) searches for any flicker of hope in the afterlife by traveling around to haunted places. He writes books about his experiences in haunted hotel and cemeteries but doesn't believe in ghost cause he has never seen one. That is until he gets to the Dolphin Hotel and steps into room 1408. The room has a history of death both natural and unnatural. People don't make it an hour in the room he is told by the hotel manager Mr. Olin (Samuel L Jackson) who begs him not to stay. Once in the room Enslin begins to experience subtle creepiness which progressively worsens. Reality starts to shift and soon he begins to understand what needs to be done to save not only his wife but anyone else that gets sucked into 1408. The cinematography and acting are great with cool special effects. As a fan of horror movies I was a satisfied by the amount of thrills and the suspense but was disappointed with the lack of information. It felt like some of the movie was left out and that there is no explanation for the room being evil. You are also left wondering if it was really a paranormal experience or if he just reached his tipping point while in 1408 and it was all just his own insanity.