Review of 1408 (2007) by Suzanne F — 12 Feb 2013

For a story which set out to be strange and otherworldly, it did a pretty good job. It's quite unsettling and so engaging, though I have to admit, for a horror film, it is quite slow-paced, but it introduces the plot well.

This is definitely one of those better Stephen King films, including 'Misery', 'The Mist', 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Green Mile'. The film is also quite well-acted; John Cussack is passable and the other cast members are borderline okay, only because a significant portion of the film features Cussack alone in a haunted hotel room.

Visual effects are not bad and the screenplay is well-written. The only thing which disturbs me is the ending. There are two endings to the movie. The theatrical ending is a much happier one while the originally intended ending (which also appears in the DVD and BluRay releases as the default ending) is gloomier.

I watched the version with the originally intended ending. I don't mind it being gloomy but in the original short story [SPOILER ALERT], Mike Enslin (the protagonist) survived and continued to live on.

(Oops) But what the heck! it is still a passable movie which successfully did what it set out to do in the first place.