This film is based on the short story 1408 by Stephen King (story available in the short story collection "Everything's Eventual), but takes that small tale and expands it greatly. In fact, the only resemblances between the film and written version are the basic idea, the opening, and the closing of the tale. I don't believe I've ever said a film is better than the book it was based upon, but this one definately is.

At first you may think this is a movie about a haunted hotel room, but you will be mistaken. It's about an room that is pure evil torturing a haunted man.

Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is the main character, a writer who has written only one serious novel but has made the bulk of his money from throw-away books about disproving supposedly haunted places. He does not believe in the stories he investigates, or much of anything else. By the end of the film his beliefs will be tested to the extreme.

He rents room 1408 (add up the individual numbers) at The Dolphin Hotel in New York, thinking it is just another room with an overly violent, death filled history. Once trapped in the evil room, it wastes no time in trying to drive it's latest occupent insane. For the rest of the film Enslin is tortured on various psychological levels that include everything from seeing the ghosts of previous occupants to pictures changing or becoming real, even showing him parts of his own haunted past. As Enslin's attepts to flee the room fail, his sanity breaks down more and more. It is more his own past that Enslin must overcome than the room's grip to escape his death.

This movie has a great story that allows Cusack to shine as the frightened character Enslin, and amazing effects highlight the horror instead of dumbing it down as is sometimes done in other films. It's fast paced once it gets off the ground, throwing numerous scares as well as unexpected twists and turns at the audience at an unrelenting pace. In my opinion, this movie is the perfect example of creepy good scariness without a lot of blood and gore, and definately worth watching more than once.

Russ Nichols