"1408"

Well I now have a back log of movies I’ve viewed recently, but have not yet had a chance to review yet, so let me start with Hollywood’s latest attempt at yet another Stephen King book.

I’m sure you noticed I used the word “Attempt” with regards to this move “1408,” and for very good reason. For years I’ve read King’s books, and watched the accompanying movies that came out later and I would say that at Hollywood has failed miserably at least 50% of the time. Stephen King is without a doubt one of the best, and most popular horror book writers of our time, and while a very small percentage of his books I would dare to classify as not very good, when compared to most other writers of the genre, are still works of art. The problem when taking one of his books and trying to create a movie out of it is a simple one. They simply do not translate into visual. These gems are meant to be enjoyed inside your own mind and not on the big screen with a million other viewers.

For those of you who may not have read 1408 yet, here is a brief synopsis of the story, and movie. Mike Enslin (Played by John Cusak) is a skeptic of anything supernatural. He becomes this way shortly after the loss of his daughter. Mike writes books debunking all of the different haunting that people claim to have happened. Mike hears about the supposed haunted room 1408 via a post card telling him not to enter the room. Mike takes this as a challenge, and the well known Dolphin Hotel becomes the next debunking on his list. He tries to book the room, but the hotel manager (Played by Samuel L. Jackson) Olin refuses him. Through legal maneuvers, he forces the manager to rent him the room. Olin tries repeatedly to persuade Mike to not stay in the room sighting that no single person has ever lasted more then a single hour in the deadly room before dying in some mysterious way, or killing themselves in dramatic fashion. Enslin, already the brick wall doubter laughs and takes the room. The story pretty much tells itself from there.

For the most part, the movie is lack luster in performance, and with the exception of a few good scenes is basically just another failure, in the long line of Stephen King books turned movie. As with all the other failures, it simply does not live up to the experience you lived inside your own mind when reading the story. Stephen King’s books when turned into movies are a simple toss of the coin. They either turn out to be master pieces like “The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, and “The Shinning,” or they end up like this one. Books that should have been left a book.

I do think that my review on this particular Stephen King adaptation may come under fire because the movie was some what popular in the theaters, but I stand by it. This is a mediocre movie, but if you’re bored on a Saturday night, and need a movie to make your date jump in your lap, try it on for size.

My rating for this movie is 6.50 out of 10.00