
Cusack goes through all sorts of emotions throughout the film and he nailed them all perfectly creating a true character instead of just a cardboard cutout of someone who has to jump during certain scenes. Why go ahead and give the film three stars? Because Cusack turns in a downright brilliant performance in his nearly one-man act. I was really letdown because the film is so routine in the horror department that if you've seen one ghost film then you should be able to know where all the jump scares are going to come. As I said earlier, the majority of the crowd was jumping out of their seats from start to finish but I guess I've seen too many of these films to be scared by any of them. He eventually spends the night at the Dolphin Hotel in room 1408, which is rumored to have caused the death of over fifty people. And, the worst part of it? The ever-present danger that the room will once again play the Carpenter's "We've Only Just Begun".which is does repeatedly!ġ408 (2007) *** (out of 4) John Cusack plays a writer who spends the night in haunted places just so that he can prove that their legends are false. It's NOT some typical ghost or horror story, that's for sure. In fact, most of the film it's just Cusack and the room of evil! And, given these constraints, it's a pretty amazing horror film. This film has one of the simplest plots I can recall and a very tiny cast. What follows is Mike's hellish experience staying in a room that seems less haunted and more just evil.and intent on breaking him and driving him into madness by preying on his greatest fears. However, when he checks out a lead to haunted room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, he finds that the hotel is intent on convincing him not to stay there! In other words, while most hotels play up the haunted angle to drum up business, this place tries hard to convince folks not to stay in 1408. One of the specialities of some of the books are haunted hotels and he spends much of his time traveling all over trying out these hotel rooms and then writing about how he saw no evidence of hauntings. Mike (John Cusack) is the author of various parapsychology books about ghosts. Because it's from a short story, it's not surprising that the film has a very simple plot. "1408" is a story taken from a Stephen King short story.
