Discover

'''1408''' is a 2007 film based on the Stephen King's short story of the same name directed by Swedish film director Mikael Håfström. The cast includes John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mary McCormack. The film was released in the US on June 22, 2007, although July 13th is mentioned as the release date in the trailer posted on the website. The film has been rated PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, and frightening images.
Author Mike Enslin's (Cusack) search for the supernatural has come up empty and as a result he's resorted to writing books such as top 10 haunted hotels in which he falsely claims to have had supernatural experiences. Despite the writing of these books his personal belief in the supernatural is far more skeptical. His latest research subject for these books is a hotel room in New York City with an ominous past. In his determination to prove the room is not haunted, Enslin may stumble into a real-life horror story.

Contents

Cast

Production

Plot

Alternate ending

Reception

Box office

International release dates

References

External links

Cast

★ John Cusack as Mike Enslin

★ Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Gerald Olin

★ Mary McCormack as Lily Enslin

★ Jasmine Jessica Anthony as Katie Enslin

★ Tony Shalhoub as Sam Farrell

Production

In November 2003, Dimension Films optioned the rights to the 2000 short story "1408" by Stephen King. The studio hired screenwriter Matt Greenberg to adapt the story into a screenplay.^[2] In October 2005, Mikael Håfström was hired to direct ''1408'', with the screenplay being rewritten by screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.^[3] In March 2006, actor John Cusack was cast to star in the film,^[4] joined by actor Samuel L. Jackson the following April.^[5] In July, actress Kate Walsh was cast to star opposite Cusack as the protagonist's ex-wife,^[6] but she was forced to exit in August due to scheduling conflicts with her role on ''Grey's Anatomy''. She was replaced by actress Mary McCormack.^[7] According to John Cusack, the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, was used for some of the exterior shots of the Dolphin.^[8]

Plot

Mike Enslin (Cusack) is a skeptic and author who debunks supernatural occurrences after the untimely death of his daughter Katie. After his latest successful book, he receives an anonymous postcard of the Dolphin Hotel in New York City bearing the message "don't enter 1408." Viewing this as a challenge, Enslin attempts to book a reservation in room 1408, but the hotel will not rent him the room. However, after being informed by Mike's agent (Shaloub) that the Fair Housing Act requires hotels to rent unoccupied rooms the Dolphin reluctantly reserves room 1408 for Enslin.
Arriving at the Dolphin, Mike is pulled aside by the hotel's manager Gerald Olin (Jackson), who warns him that no one has lasted more than an hour in 1408. Olin offers Enslin an upgrade to the penthouse suite, access to documents regarding the deaths in 1408, and an $800 bottle of cognac. Mike accepts the documents and the cognac but insists on staying in the room, frustrating Olin. The manager gives him the key, warning him that "It's an ''EVIL'' fucking room."
Once inside the room, Mike pulls out his Mini Cassette recorder and dictates on the unremarkability of 1408. As he examines the room, the radio suddenly starts blaring ''We've Only Just Begun'' by The Carpenters. Later, Enslin is startled again as the clock radio begins to play the same song. When he rips the clock's electrical cord from the wall the display flickers and changes to read "60:00", then starts counting down from 60 minutes. Suddenly, Mike is unable to hear anything, apart from a a tinnitus-like ringing in his ears, and opens the window to check his hearing; the window slams down, cutting a large gash in the top of his hand. His hearing quickly returns and he bandages his hand using a bandana from his bag. Wishing to go to a hospital, Mike attempts to leave the room; however his key breaks off in the door, trapping him inside 1408.
Enslin begins to see and hear things, including visions of his daughter's time in the hospital shortly before her death, but he initially dismisses them as hallucinations. Among one of these strange visions is a face to face encounter with his own father. He makes several attempts to free himself from the room such as crawling through the air vents, where he is seen being chased by a hideous apparition, or trying to crawl outside on the ledge to the next room, but all end in failure. He manages to contact his wife Lily (Mary McCormack) via Yahoo! Messenger video chat, but the conversation ends abruptly when the sprinkler system shorts out his laptop. All the while the room temperature drops, eventually to subzero temperatures. With his laptop now working Mike contacts Lily again, but a doppelgänger of him hijacks the conversation, urging Lily to come the hotel immediately and enter room 1408. The room begins to shake violently and the interior cracks and explodes as water fills the room, pulling Mike under the surface.
Mike wakes up in a hospital near his home in L.A., Lily at his bedside. She tells him that he was hospitalized after sustaining a concussion from a surfing accident depicted earlier in the film. This reprieve is short-lived, however, when at the post office a construction crew made up of hotel staff and guests begin to destroy the interior, revealing the walls and floor of 1408 underneath, now fire gutted, and finding himself still trapped in the room. There is a small inscription on the wall visable from the window, reading ''Burn Me Alive''. Mike then encounters his dead daughter, alive, but dying again, and crumbling to dust as the clock radio's countdown approaches zero; when it finally reaches zero the room changes back to its original, undamaged appearance.
The clock radio resets for another 60 minutes and the phone rings; when Mike answers, the friendly female voice of the hotel operator informs him that he can relive the hour "again and again" or choose to take advantage of their "express checkout system." A hangman's knot appears in the bedroom and Mike has a vision of him hanging himself; he tells the operator that he will not be checking out that way. The phone rings again, and the operator reminds him that his wife will be arriving in 5 minutes and will be sent right up to his room. He responds he is done arguing and is going to end this.
Turning the cognac into a Molotov Cocktail Mike sets the room on fire, causing the hotel to be evacuated. Lily is stopped from entering the hotel, but tells the firefighters that Mike is in 1408. Mike throws an ashtray through the room's windows, intentionally causing a backdraft to overtake the room just seconds before firefighters batter down the door. They get him out and, though burned, Mike is told that he will be all right. Mike attempts to tell the firefighters not to enter the room, as it is 'evil'. A short while later, a smiling Olin is seen in his office, smoking a cigar and praising Mike for surviving.
Mike recovers in a New York hospital, Lily at his bedside. He swears that he saw Katie, but Lily refuses to believe him. After his recovery Mike moves back in with Lily, beginning work on a new, non-horror novel. While sorting through a box of items from his night in 1408 Mike comes across his Mini Cassette recorder. After some difficulty he manages to get the tape to play; it begins with Mike's dictation of 1408's appearance, but cuts in with audio from his interaction with the apparition of his daughter. Lily freezes in shock as she hears her dead daughter's voice coming from the hand-held, and the film closes on Mike meeting her shocked stare with one of grim .

Alternate ending

Director Mikael Håfström has stated that the ending for ''1408'' was reshot because test screeners felt that the original ending was too much of a "downer". The alternate ending will be included on the DVD release. It includes a much more versatile ending leaving space for possible continuations on the film.^[9]

Reception

Reviews were mostly positive for the film and was certified "Fresh" by Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 78%,^[10] stating that "relying on psychological tension rather than overt violence and gore, ''1408'' is a genuinely creepy thriller with a strong lead performance by John Cusack."^[10] Most of the reviews praise both Cusack's and Jackson's performances in the film, and many of the positive reviews say that the film was one of the best King films since ''The Shining''.
On its first weekend, ''1408'' debuted at #2 and made $20.6 million, and exceeded expectations ($12-18 million), making it the second thriller or horror film in 2007 (the first being ''Disturbia'') to be successful at the box office.^[12]

Box office

''1408'' made $67,823,000 in its first 32 days on release.^[1]

International release dates

★ July 31, 2007 — Romania

★ August 3, 2007 — Taiwan, Lithuania

★ August 23, 2007 — Netherlands

★ August 24, 2007 — Malta

★ August 29, 2007 — Philippines

★ August 31 2007 — United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Ireland

★ September 13, 2007 — Hong Kong, Germany

★ September 27, 2007 — Czech Republic

★ October 10, 2007 — France and Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia

★ October 11, 2007 — Australia

References

1. 1408
2. Dimension checking into room '1408'
3. Hafstrom to direct '1408'
4. Cusack finds a room in King's '1408'
5. '1408' gets another guest
6. Walsh's room is '1408'
7. '1408' books a new tenant
8. http://summermovies.fandango.com/roadtripmyfav.php?fid=15
9. http://www.cinemablend.com/dvdnews/Advance-Hint-At-1408-DVD-Contents-4676.html Advance Hint At 1408 DVD Contents - DVD News
10. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1408/
11. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1408/
12. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
13. 1408

External links

★ Official site

★ Exclusive trailer at Yahoo!

★

★

★ Interview with director Mikael Hafstrom

★ The Times Film Review: ''1408''