The first twenty five odd minutes are the best of the film and had me convinced, when I was watching, that this movie will be getting two shots. We’re introduced to Mike Enslin (Cusack), an amateur ghost hunter and successful haunted house writer as he is staying

at yet another purportedly “haunted” hotel. He’s a cynical jerk, and whatever fire drives him has certainly died down as he has found no evidence of the afterlife. He’s looking for his daughter, who we learn in flashbacks, died of an unnamed disease and drove Mike and his wife, Lily (Mary McCormack) apart afterwards. It’s been a hunt for signs of the afterlife, that their daughter is in a better place, ever since. But he keeps coming up empty! Which brings us to the self-titled room 1408 (whose numbers add up to 13...gasp!), located in the classy and antiquated Dolphin Hotel, lorded over by Mr. Olin (Samuel L. Jackson).

    The repartee between Cusack and Jackson, what little there is, is the best reason to see the film. Jackson’s Olin is calm, cool and through his very straightforward insistence of Enslin not staying in room 1408, where 56 people have died, is the most chilling part of the film (and there’s a scene in 0 degree weather!). It works because when Jackson describes all the horror that has happened in that room, our minds start thinking. The old adage of ‘it’s not the thing that makes the sound that is scary, it’s the sound itself’ or, to put it more bluntly, the fear of the unknown, holds true as always. Jackson, despite his conviction against staying in the room, makes the curious side of your mind want to stay there. It just sounds so horrifying that it just has to be experienced. I was excited to get in there at last!

    With all this history and horror behind it, the room offers little more than sight shocks and some impressive visual and practical effects. While it has its share of “boo!” moments, mostly in the form of long-dead apparitions appearing out of the corner of Mike’s eyes and attacking him, or going through the motions of their own deaths. But the camera lingers in the light too long, the film grain is too clear and any real sense of horror comes through our own internal dread, which keeps telling us that things have to get scarier, right? They get worse, of course, as the room undergoes several supernatural changes, but none of it is really scary, and elicits only a “dude, they fucked that room up”. I am thankful that there is no dead little girl who is the cause of all this insanity. In fact, the movie offers up no explanations as to why it is an “evil fucking room”, which allows us the audience to keep peaking around the corner past the next frame, hoping for some realization that would make perfect sense.

    Cusack is doing the same. Mike is a fiercely rational man, which is comforting to see in a horror movie, as opposed to some eager (or dumb) bimbo thrust into the situation. His attempts to explain away the odd occurrences are priceless and illicit more than a few laughters. At times, he almost reminds me of Lloyd Dobler plus a few years, his idealism burned away, but the same smart-alec guy with the sunken shoulders remains. Throughout the hour, Mike’s past is brought to light and it tortures him. This is not a room that is haunted persay, it’s one that dredges up the ghosts of those who stay in it. Mike’s past is something he hasn’t dealt with, instead of writing about his daughter’s death, he chases ghosts and writes about them. It’s understandable, but his time in the room convinces him of the time he has squandered in his relentless pursuit of the afterlife, when he should be living in the here and now.

    The film offers loads of unfulfilled dread, but little horror. In fact, the most horrifying aspect of the film is the massive underutilization of Samuel L. Jackson. I could have listened to him talk about the room for ninety minutes and have been as pleased as punch without any supernatural mumbojumbo ever happening. The PG-13 rating severely hampers the believability of some of the more gruesome elements, as the camera gives us quick flashes out of the corner of our eyes. As far as horror movies go, there are worse out this year and ‘1408’ at the very least remembers that the character comes first and if we don’t give a damn about him, all the ghoulies and bumps in the night don’t mean a damn thing. It’s unfortunate that the film-makers couldn’t spend a little more on those very same elements, and instead we feel cheated out of what could have been a great supernatural tale of horror, suspense and ultimately, acceptance.