1408

Is there anything left to anticipate within the horror genre? After a slew of gore stories and Asian ghosts, it's strange to hear that the movie generating anything buzzworthy this year was 1408, which is based on one of the most generic premises—a haunted hotel—written by the world's most familiar name in horror, Stephen King. Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a cynical writer who wants to believe in ghosts, but can't seem to find one in the tens of so-called haunted hotels he's stayed in. That situation changes when he gets a mysterious postcard from the Dolphin Hotel, Manhattan, warning him away from the room 1408. So of course he heads there. There, Enslin discovers that not only is Samuel L. Jackson acting in this film as the hotel's supervisor, but also gets to hear the latter's obligatory expletive rant: “It's an evil f-ing room.” People have killed themselves, slit their wrists, and gored their eyes out moments within entering the room, so he says. But Enslin, like so many others who can't take Jackson seriously, ignores him and checks into 1408. The evil room is bare and calm, with non-descript paintings and beige carpeting the floor like any other hotel room. Director Mikael Hafstrˆm does well in the early stages of the movie, cocooning us within the comfort of the ordinary, until the clock radio clicks on. The Carpenters are belted out. A painting shifts. The barometer goes haywire. These claustrophobic twitches are his great touches—like Nimrod Antal's claustrophobic work in Vacancy, Mikael manages to twist Cusack's charming face into a mess of paranoid fits with every creak. Unfortunately the fear doesn't stay in those confined spaces throughout. Instead, 1408 searches for a grand exit with bigger and greater disasters befalling Enslin, diminishing all the good work done in the first 60 minutes. Still, for all its mess, 1408 is worth the watch if only to see John Cusack freak out to the opening lyric of “We've only just begun... ”

Cast John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson Director Mikael Hafstrˆm Runtime 94 mins Opens 25 October

TEXT JOHN LIM