The James Logan Courier

By Carmen Shiu, Courier Entertainment Editor

Every time I am asked to watch a horror film in the theaters by my friends, I am always hesitant because they tend to be a waste of money. Mostly it is because scriptwriters seem to be incapable of ending the movies correctly. With “1408,” I am pleased to say that I did not waste my money and that a horror movie finally had a horror ending.

“1408” stars John Cusack as an author (Mike Enslin) who writes about the supernatural and paranormal. His latest is about haunted hotels, in which people start to send him postcards and invitations to stay in hotels that they believe are haunted. After going through a number of them, a postcard from the Dolphin Hotel caught his eye as it tells him not to enter room 1408. Samuel L. Jackson plays as the hotel’s manager (Gerald Olin) that warns and bribes him in any way possible that Enslin should not stay in the room. The history of the room includes a number of deaths and injuries, in which Olin does not want to be hold responsibility for another one. Daring and determined, Enslin decides to stay in the room anyway to prove that it is not haunted.

The movie is based off of a short story named “1408” by the famous author, Stephen King. It is in two of his books – incomplete in “On Writing” and complete in “Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales.” Seeing as the fact that a good horror film nowadays is rare, the fact that it is based on King’s writing is more than likely the main reason why it is good.

There are only minimal flaws throughout the entire movie. At some point, it seemed like the movie was going nowhere. Enslin seemed to be stuck in a never-ending haunting of the room, but thankfully, the scriptwriters saved themselves with an ending more on the intriguing side.

My advice to anyone who decides to watch “1408” is to not to leave the theater until the credits start rolling in. A number of people started walking out towards the end, but really, it was not even the ending. Although I do admit that the scene they decided to walk out on led me to think, “Please tell me this is not the ending.” Like I said, I want my money’s worth.

It is rare to have the entire theater screaming at the same time, but that’s what happened. It shows you that people enjoyed the movie somewhat, at least. Another helpful hint is to try not to remember the scenes from the commercials so much. If you do, it might not be as scary as it can be. “1408” was done beautifully, as it still gives me the creeps from time to time thinking about it. This movie is definitely recommended to be seen.