Review of 1408

Steve Miller · Post by **Steve Miller** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:49 pm

See it. It's the best haunted house movie in at least a decade.

I rattle on at great lengths over on my Rotten Tomatoes page (here's a link to the full review), but the above is really all a Ravenloft fan needs to know. (Well, that and John Cusack gives an amazing perfomance, and Samuel L. Jackson actually acts instead of just chewing on the scenery.)

LadySoth · Post by **LadySoth** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:57 am

I was wondering about this movie, it looked pretty interesting, and your review was pretty favorable to it, so maybe I'll check it out!

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:06 pm

Yeah I definetely wanted to see that, and even more so now after what you've guys said about it.

BigBadQDaddy · Post by **BigBadQDaddy** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:16 pm

I have been very apprehensive about seeing this movie since it is probably my favorite Stephen King short story.
For those who haven't read it, it appears in the short story collection Everything's Eventual.
The suspense of the first half of the story is what gets me. Not the creepy events which occur in Room 1408, but the conversation between Mr. Olin and Mike is amazing.

I'll shut up now before I babble on and give parts away

But I guess since it got Mr. Miller's approval I must see it. After all I owe it to you for getting me to see White Zombie, which is now one of my all time favorite top 5.

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:20 pm

Just saw it tonight with the girlfriend. A great movie. I was able to predict what would happen most of the movie, but I still really enjoyed it. Nicely done.

LadySoth · Post by **LadySoth** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:53 am

I saw it last weekend. I thought it was OK, although nothing to write home about IMO. As Snake said, parts of the film were very predictable. I thought John Cusack was pretty good, and Samuel L. always makes me laugh . . . Six out of ten skulls for me.

Did anyone else think the ending was lame?

Steve Miller · Post by **Steve Miller** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:33 am

LadySoth wrote:Did anyone else think the ending was lame?

I think it went on a bit too long, but I think I had that sense due to the...

SPOILER....

... partially botched "false ending" earlier in the film.

LadySoth · Post by **LadySoth** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:24 am

^Exactly. For a film that was only 2 hours give or take a few minutes, it felt really long, almost like a 3 hour film.

SPOILER:

One thing I do have to compliment the filmmakers on is the fact that if you time the moment Cusack enters the room to the time he finally leaves it, its exactly 1 hour (I happened to glance at my watch before and after). Pretty neat! I didn't happen to notice if the room's digital timer stays consistant with our time or not. I thought part of the reason the film seemed so long was because we experience everything the character experiences in Real Time. Trippy.

ScS of the Fraternity · Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:51 am

SPOILERS!

LadySoth wrote:I didn't happen to notice if the room's digital timer stays consistant with our time or not.

I don't think so. After all, the timer starts sometime after he enters the room. Also, after the first hour is over, he gets a phone call threatening another, so that's at least a couple of minutes over (unless the director wasn't using the clock-radio's countdown).

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Review of 1408

Review of 1408