Horror is one thing 1408 lacks

Rating: 5/10 (29 August 2007)

1408 lacks actual suspense and horror, but plenty of cheap thrills for those who aren't familiar with the genre. This is a definite rental, not the least bit scary or even thrilling. The King short story was excellent simply because it was a creative idea that was SHORT (keyword) and not an entire novel. It provided a simple "guy goes nuts" plot line with crazy happenings that made a quick page turner. Stretching that neat idea into a full length feature film just does not work especially if you're read the short story. I also thought there were too many cheap scares which seemed desperate and unintentionally funny such as the creepy skeletal zombie thing in the ventilation system which conveniently pops out as Cusack nears... (cheap, and not frightening unless you are nine and haven't seen a single, generic horror film) Samuel L. Jackson delivers a fantastic and entertaining performance, then I begin to realize how little of him there is on this film. Does his role merit a name and picture on the cover of the poster? As a fan of his I say yes, but really? No. John Cusack was also amazing as usual and did a lot with the story he was given, playing the character very closely to the short story. If you like watching these actors I would definitely see this movie, just don't expect to be scared in the least. The additional plot lines not found in the short story which arrive as it nears the first hour point, were intriguing and some nice touches like the song "Only Just Begun" this was clever.
This isn't entirely a bad movie, but it is a bad horror movie. The highlights are the actors, not much else. It fails as a horror movie by a) not provoking fear or creating tension b) lacking suspense if there ever is any, it must immediately call for a burst of sound to make people jump (which does NOT scare in the least) c) recycled plot lines (especially in the last two thirds of the film) Some of these poorly written plot lines seem made for TV especially when they are delivered in a format seen before. In particular, the daughter's death which includes the predictable return of her body. The presentation of this segment is mediocre.
Paying 10 bucks for a movie isn't a problem for me, but it can become one when the movies continue to disappoint and I begin to think of a different movie I could have seen instead more deserving of that money/time. Did you read the short story yourself? If not, do so, 1408 (the novel) was a nice little 1 hour read with a simple plot and interesting POV, the movie turned and stretched it out adding the silly mother/daughter subplot I've certainly seen before. Sure that brought Cusack some nice acting moments (I can't say enough how was great he is in 1408) but that portion of the story was ultimately pointless and disappointing. Samuel L. Jackson also had some fine moments BUT he is in this for about 8 minutes! Acting aside, the horrors of this summer are disappointing in fact; I'm looking to Hairspray to be the scariest movie of the summer.