IMDb plot summary: A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Directed by Mikael Håfström. Starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, and Tony Shalhoub.
I knew this was an adaptation of a Stephen King story and that it was set in a hotel room, but that's about all I knew going in. It definitely has a strong atmosphere to it, and it builds nicely in the horror throughout, aside from about a 20-minute stretch in the middle where I became very keenly aware of how much it was just a list of creepy things happening. Had that section been cut or shortened and the momentum not lost, I think this movie would land higher on my chart. As it is, I think it's pretty decent but not great. It's very Stephen King-esque, in that the spooky parts are effective and the dramatic parts mostly rub me the wrong way. (I also discovered there are like four different filmed endings to this. I watched the one identified on Wikipedia as the "Director's Cut Ending.")
3 stars.
How it entered my Flickchart:
1408 > The Post
1408 < Up in the Air
1408 > Phantom Thread
1408 < The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
1408 < Batman
1408 < Misery
1408 < John Carter
1408 < Punch-Drunk Love
1408 < Thor
1408 > Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl
1408 < Hamlet (1990)
Final spot: #1070 out of 2861.
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