1408 4 1408

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2015)

In celebration of my 1408th review, I had revisit one of the only few ghost/haunted dwellings I can tolerate. (The Shining is the only other one that comes to mind)
Since I don't believe in ghosts, haunted houses or any sort of unintentionally hilarious Paranormal chapter, it's generally hard for me to get into them or even be a bit frightened. It doesn't help that 99% of them fall in the same trap of unoriginal material, i.e. family puts all their money into a house they got a great deal on only to be slowly tormented by some variation of the usually angered previous resident blah, blahthey can't afford to move, medium kinda helpsyada, yadathey find a way out at the 11th hour but only to leave the screen door open for a shameless sequel.
1408 threw that all out and finally came up with something fresh. Well, in 2007, that is. (Sadly, the 10,992 haunted house movies that's come since said F that! We're going back to the clichés!)
Love the story of (pretty much me) writer, Mike – played brilliantly by Cusack, who not only doesn't believe in ghosts, but travels around to debunk the so-called haunted areas in his books. It wouldn't be much of a movie if he didn't finally find one that was actually haunted.
The buildup to Mike checking into the title's hotel room was incredible from both Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. And a ton of what happens in the room and surrounding was extremely effective. (My biggest scare was the ledge, but then, I still don't believe in the supernatural and I'm afraid of heights.)
I loved the twist on the haunted story. Wish they'd do more of these original stories – course, it's mostly thanks to the brilliant mind of Stephen King who ALWAYS thinks outside the box. Sadly, America just wants the same old crap recycled at least twice a year. The overkill was tedious four years ago and the unoriginal haunted house stories continue. Laughably, most are supposedly based on true events.
Bring back this kind of greatness (and, yeah, the other King masterpiece, The Shining) and I will renew my faith in the washed-up subgenre.