Psychologically... horrifyingly... stunning.

Rating: 8/10 (23 August 2010)

I am not one to sit around watching horror films. I am one to sit around watching super- hero flicks and sci-fi's and comedies- genres I consider not even remotely close to horror. I am the type who can't even read the description of a horror film on Wikipedia without feeling slightly terrified. Quite to the contrary, I absolutely love Stephen King. And so when I stumble upon 1408 I instantly wanted to watch it, despite the unsettling feeling that I was going to be freaked out by this. After bracing myself through gory trailers, I anxiously pressed play on the computer... and I was instantly ported into the first movie I've seen in a while that honestly makes you think.
1408, while it does on occasion have undead... zombies? Well, undead ghosts jump out at Mike Enslin (John Cusack), most of the fear you get doesn't derive from slash-and-tear cliché horror. I'm getting the same feelings I got from Inception. I just couldn't help but think of how closely I could relate to Mike Enslin. The emotions Cusack portrays are organic and I honestly invested myself in Mike Enslin and routed for him throughout. (And to clear things right now, I have seen all versions of the film and I'm reviewing the theatrical one, I think. (Not the original version, the other one.)) By the end of the film I was so... seriously shocked by what had unfolded that I was truly speechless. While Mike Enslin might have deserved what he got to some degree I nod my head to John Cusack- he played a believably sad ex- husband/grieving dad. Most actors simply have a generic sad face that you get bored of after 20 minutes.
1408 is not your conventional horror flick. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say I feel like it's more of a mind-bender flick than anything. Challenge what you think you know and SEE THIS FILM!