Review of 1408 (2007) by Shareef B — 09 Nov 2015

Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom creates a movie meant to send shivers down your spine and start to question your own reality. 1408 is a terrifying test on the mental state of a paranormal specialist when visiting a room in the Dolphin Hotel. John Cusack, who plays the lead role of Mike Enslin is put in the hotel 1408 where 54 people have died of heart attacks, strokes, gauging eyes out and even drowning, since the opening of the Dolphin Hotel. Expecting everything to go over as it usually does for him when going to visit hotels, he was completely calm and slightly irritated when the manager, played by Samuel Jackson pressured him not to take the risk. Knowing what it would be like to slowly lose your mind is the key to why I gave this movie 4 stars. Throughout the movie, not only is Mike's sanity tested but it leaves the audience feeling like they are starting to lose their mind as well. The drive of the movie is to send chills down the audience's spine, and that it does! Looking in the far window and seeing your reflection, freezing in the room and the weird countdown on the hotel clocks will make you feel like you're the one staying in 1408. This room not only makes you feel like you're there but it makes all of your worst nightmares come to life. While a traditional horror movie is meant for us to jump or scream at the sight of something that wasn't there before or the creepy music that is usually played in the background, 1408 isn't the traditional movie. True terror comes when the employees won't come out of the elevator in fear of being to close, it's almost being able to feel the room shift as the hotel room shifts into one of Mike's episodes. But more importantly, true fear comes from not knowing whether it's a lucid dream, or true reality. What nightmare will come to life next? Will he ever wake up? "They say you can't die in your dreams... is that true?".

One thing I can say about 1408 that hindered me from giving it 5 stars is that Mike stopped being scared. Throughout this movie, every second is filled with things that would drive people to be absolutely terrified and it seemed as if Mike just started getting used to these things. Sights of his dying dad and voice of his dead daughter seemed to not faze him. The mental state of Mike towards the end of the movie disconnects ties that was once there when the movie first started. His acceptance of these crazy episodes make being scared almost impossible.

Overall 1408 was a fantastic movie- 4 stars. Other than the occasional disconnection, being able to witness what it's like being able to lose your mind in 4 walls, with no witnesses, no doorknob and silent scream, will make you double think staying in another hotel. Remember "even if you leave this room, you never really leave this room!".