Review of 1408 (2007) by Cassie H — 25 Apr 2012

**************************************************Spoilers*******************************************************.

Don't read if you haven't seen the movie!

A very good movie. I have been a John Cusack for a few years now & he always brings it to the table. In 1408, Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a horror novelist who is very unhappy with his life. His life however turns around when he receives an invitation to the Dolphin Hotel, where the notorious room 1408. As soon as he gets there the manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to persuade him to room in a different room. He tells Mike that 56 deaths had happened in 1408, 22 of which were natural. He also tells him, that no one has ever lasted more than and hour in 1408. Olin even shows him a book of photographs that detail the deaths that happened in the room. Mike, however, refuses to room in a different room. Once in 1408, Mike thinks it's one great big hoax. That is until the radio turns itself on to the Carpender's song We've Only Just Begun. He even gets cut in the sink and again the radio plays the same song. By this point, Mike is very scared. He even calls the service in the hotel to say that he wants to check out but the service won't listen. His level of terror grows when he watches the radio turn to a countdown starting at 60 minutes. He endurs high levels of heat, freezing temperatures, ghosts in the room trying to kill him. Mike even hallucinates that he sees his dead daughter, Katie (Jasmine Jessica Anthony), who died on cancer, which ended his marriage with Lily (Mark McCormack). His hallucinations also go so far as to success that he never left L.A. where he lives and that he never received an invitation to the Dolphin Hotel. His hallucinations soon end & he's right back at the Dolphin Hotel. The hour ends and a new one begins, in fact, the hotel service tells him that Mike will keep relieving the same hour or if he wants out, the only other option is to kill himself. In the end, Lily comes to try to save him, but she's too late. Mike sets the hotel room on fire, and obviously, dies of severe burns. Grade: A++.