A tall, non-descript, centrally based hotel is not exactly the setting where you would expect an other worldly experience but this is exactly the place it all happens.

Rating: 4/10 (12 October 2007)

A tall, non-descript, centrally based New York hotel named "Dolphin" is not exactly the setting where you would expect an other worldly experience but this is exactly the place it all happens and specifically in room 1408. Just as the name of the hotel, and the title which, other than being the number of the room in question, seems to be chosen randomly, the movie fails to deliver a good plot that would keep viewers at the edge of their seats for what seems like a very very long time.
The acting is not up to scratch despite the big names, and the story is just not that convincing  one criteria that is absolutely crucial if we are meant to be scared. As we follow what appears at first to be a jaded, been there done that got the t-shirt small time writer on his quest to find a truly haunted hotel, just to be reassured over and over again that no such thing as ghosts exist, we see him loose his cool demeanour as the radio turns itself on in this "haunted" room 1408. This is followed by a few more "scary" happenings where the window closes itself when he bumps his head on it, or the loo roll seems to have folded itself into place , and our ghost buster is peeing his pants (not literarly) and is ready to leave the room. Thankfully, or not, he does not leave and we are rewarded for our patience with a fairly good show of some poltergeist activity for the next hour or so.
There is a nice twist in the movie, just when we thought it was safe, and we get a good scare near the very end, but there is nothing there that would disturb your good night sleep after watching it. In fact, it seems to drag on a bit as you find yourself yawning, making it a good just before bed movie  not my definition of scary!