'It's only just begun....' (1408 (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	1408 (DVD)
Date:	22/03/08 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling, John Cusack's performance

Disadvantages: Minor ones

Mike Enslin is a cynical man, who specialises in writing books about haunted hotels and graveyards, without really believing what he writes. That is, until he goes to the Dolphin Hotel, after receiving an anonymous tip about room 1408. His agent books the room for him, but when he arrives at the hotel, the Manager, Gerald Olin, tries very hard to persuade him to take another room. When Mike insists, Mr Olin tells him of the many deaths that have occurred in the room, both suspicious and natural ones. He is fighting a losing battle though, and Mike eventually gets his own way. Are Olin's actions just a marketing ploy? Or is there really something scary in room 1408?

1408 is the adaptation of a Stephen King short story, which is one of the reasons I wanted to watch it. Not that that was any reason to presume that it would be a good film, but as some of my favourite films have been adaptations of King's work, I did at least have an inkling that it was likely to be a quality film. The fact that it sounded a little like the plot to The Shining, my all-time favourite film, and starred John Cusack, was also a draw. A few less than positive reviews made me wonder if I was going to be disappointed, but I was still prepared to give the film a try. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed at all.

I like John Cusack's work very much. He never seems to receive the attention that I think he deserves though. True, he has done a couple of dodgy films - America's Sweethearts and Serendipity immediately spring to mind - but he has put in some sterling performances in films such as Identity and Being John Malkovich. I thought his role as Mike Enslin was quite similar to that he plays in Identity - he is a kind of anti-hero hiding a secret, and in this case at least, it is a secret that partly excuses his rudeness to other people. Mike Enslin pretty much is the film - Olin (Samuel L Jackson) is the only other character with more than just a couple of lines - but at no time did I ever feel that Cusack couldn't handle such a major role. There was one point, just after he has entered the room, but before anything too strange happens, when I felt that his behaviour was a bit exaggerated, but after that, his performance was flawless and I really felt his fear.

Samuel L Jackson is strangely convincing as Olin, despite the fact that what he says is completely unrealistic. Then again, I would never expect anything else of an actor with his talent. Mary McCormack also gives a good, if short and sweet, performance as Mike's separated wife, Lily. Two other actors that stood out, more because I knew I recognised them from somewhere than because they gave outstanding performances, are Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk). It was good to see them in very different roles from the ones I'm accustomed to seeing them in, even if they didn't really have much of a chance to show off their talents.

1408 is a film big on suspense rather than full-blown horror. There are a few occasions where the special effects have to go into overtime, but generally, it is a clever use of camera angles and Cusack's fear that made me jump. The rating of 15 for the UK and PG-13 for the US is probably about right. At one point, he is clinging on to a ledge just outside the hotel room window; nothing new about that, you might think, but the way that it is filmed really made my stomach lurch, especially when Mike sees the vision of a suicide jumper leap from the window and fall to her death. Then there is the radio, which insists on randomly playing 'It's Only Just Begun' by the Carpenters, even when the plug has been pulled. Probably the worst parts for me though were the flashbacks that Mike has to his past life, which gives us the opportunity to find out a bit more about him. They shouldn't have been scary, but in context, they certainly gave me the willies.

One thing that I found quite strange and out of keeping with the rest of the film was the use of characters that I can only describe as looking like sepia photographs that have been coloured over. These characters are used to depict people who have died in the room and that Mike has either read about or been told about. Quite why they were portrayed in this way, I am not sure, but they seemed almost like cartoons and therefore not at all real.

The obvious flaw in the film is the ending and the fact that it doesn't really explain why room 1408 existed or why it reacts to people in the way that it does. To be honest, this didn't really bother me that much. This genre of film is often inexplicable; God knows, so is my life at times!! It has also been criticised for lacking originality. It certainly reminded me of a number of films, including The Shining (that weird hotel room), Vacancy (when they are climbing through the ventilation systems) and Identity (partly because of John Cusack, partly because of the build-up of suspense). Despite this, I still liked the film, it provided me with a solid couple of hours of entertainment and suspense, and the story, although not perfect, had enough originality to make it stand out in my mind.

I am rarely tempted to buy DVDs of films. I just don't think it is worth paying a few quid for just a couple of hours of entertainment, that I will probably only watch once or twice. However, in this instance, I will buy a copy for my collection because I think that this is a film, like The Shining and Identity, that I will watch time and time again, gaining something else from watching each time. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys horrors/thrillers of the Stephen King variety; even if you don't, give it a go, you might just enjoy it.

The DVD is available from play.com for £7.99.

Classification: 15

Running time: 104 minutes

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Summary: It's had mixed reviews, but I liked it