1408 is a 2007 film based on a Stephen King short story that was received well and had solid box office results. John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson lead a limited cast, as the story belongs to Cusack's character Mike Enslin, an author of some regard in the past, who now writes successful series of books on "haunted" establishments around the world. The thing is, he's the ultimate cynical pessimist. He does not believe in, as he puts it: "ghoulies, ghosties, and long-legged beasties".
Cusack's performance may be the strongest of his long career, one that's dipped into the direct to video era for the most part. Hopefully he will be approaching a renaissance, as it is well deserved. He's one of my favorite actors, with a hell of a filmography spanning 30 some years. As 1408 unspools, you see Mike's goal is to stay at haunted establishments and debunk them, which he does with success. His next target is New York's Dolphin hotel, where he's alerted to in a post card from the titular 1408.
That's all Enslin needs.
When he rents the room and shows up, he's warned off, and with ominous verve by the hotel's manager, Samuel L. Jackson in a small reserved, calm, but intense performance. You find throughout Enslin's stay that there's more to his debunking ghosts; it's more like a search for satisfactory proof because of traumatic events in his past.
1408 is in no way terrifying, but it's effective. The room is a special effect unto itself, and Cusack is its victim. Mike Enslin takes an emotional and physical beating unlike any we have seen since Bruce Campbell's in Evil Dead II (a movie that Cusack and Jack Black have a great discussion about in High Fidelity). As good as it is, 1408 functions as an intense and cerebral ghost story, but I don't really recommend it as a Halloween viewing. Is it riveting? Yes.
Is it fun? No.
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