John Cusack as himself vs. "a fucking evil room." (quote - and the best line - by Samuel L.) The film essentially toys with the cinematic possibilities of showing a character slowly come to grips with insanity, and thanks to some loopy editing and cinematography it works. Some excessive use of special effects aside, it's very capably put together, with a number of props (the clock, the bottle, the room, etc.) effectively blurring a distorted sense of time. The only thing more surprising than how well the director crafts the film is how poor his previous film, the aptly titled Derailed, was. Then again, the film wouldn't work half as well without Cusack as the lead, convincingly transporting his persona from comedies like Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity (getting a bit banged up in the process) into this man vs. room spook-fest. While the ending does sort of break the rules, I was glad it ended on the note that it did. Also glad that they changed around some of the goofier aspects of the trailer, but dissapointed they revealed as much as they did. 5 spooks out of 5!
PS: Favorite scene = the ledge, now that was intense.

Yep, I liked it a lot as well. I too loved the line about the evil fucking room.

I just thought it went on a bit too long.

B+

BTW..did you catch that Grady was mentioned as one of the guest who died in the room? Grady was the name of the first caretaker of the Outlook in the Shining. Very cool.

Heh makes sense considering how similar the stories are, the main character's actions aside.

How I curse the foul creation of the staggered release. I've been drooling for this since the trailer.

Funny because I found the trailer to look way too much like Disney's Haunted Mansion. I think the key is that the events we seein the trailer work way better in the context than the 2 to 3 second clips we see.

You do realize you've made me drool even more with that?

You're welcome, not that I nessecarily want to overhype this toooo much.

This film is fucking creepy. It's, indeed, the first film since The Ring (that I can remember) that didn't need cheap scares or massive amounts of blood/gore to be a scary film. Granted, this film isn't as scary the reviews make it out to be - it's got a few scenes that make you jump, but it's more freaky than scary (although my theater might disagree - nonstop screaming). John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson give solid performances. As mentioned by others, the editing and cinematography are really impressive. I imagined it ending differently than it did, but I still liked it. Surprisingly solid horror flick, not the usual PG-13 junk we've seen since The Ring came out. B+

Best scares, I think, were on the ledge (as he's coming back into the room) and in the vents. Fuuuuuck.

The movie it most reminded me of was Hellraiser: Inferno, oddly enough. My biggest problem is that it's not exactly a shock as to where it's all leading, and the ending reeks of reshoot.

I sort of want to see this...but I'm such a wuss at movies like this

I didn't go see The Ring until it had become a phenomenon and I wanted to join the bandwagon. I was freaked out about seeing it and completely lost my shit in the theater.

Too bad I don't have a higher tolerance

1408 isn't scary. Its money shots are in the trailer.

This's gotta be a record!

I don't think Hollywood has ever had a faster turnaround on a remake.

Yet, here we have 1408, the Bug remake -- just four short weeks after the original's release. WOW!!!

And as remakes go, it's pretty darn good. Certainly a bit Hollywoodized as you might imagine... what with the bigger FX budget, and bonafide star. But -- there it is, the same freaky story underneath (which come to think of it, is almost scarier than the premise itself). The original left more to the imagination, whereas this remake tends to bash you over the head a bit to make sure you're gettin' the point (eg: in 1408, there is no room left to doubt whether the bugs are real).

But, the initial premise leading up to the Bug remake -- a skeptic undone -- as conceived by Stephen King is a sound and frighteningly beautiful one.

I quite enjoyed the ride (for a second time in less than a month). And ya know what? I could ride it all over again -- bring on the re-re-imagining!

5 out of 5.

1408

Oh the humanity, I went to see this at 1910 this friday and thought that I would avoid the tweeners but No, they came out in full force and the theatre was packed.

Anyone else think the Paul Giammati and Clive Owen action film is gonna be a stinker? Owen is too dry to do action and Giammati, though believable, can't prevent some of his line delivery from sounding funny/corny.

I was anticipating the film because the trailer left me "scared". The scenes in the hotel room do not disappoint and really work on your nerves along with the use of the music/sound. The back story flashbacks with his daughter and wife were kind of throwaway I thought. They seemed a bit pointless and unncessary. I did like how after the hour ended it all reset. That was a nice idea. I did not like how the film ended but I guess it had to had some type of conclusion. I don't know if having him live was good. He could have died and she found out that what happened was real anyway through the tape recorder. Overall, I thought it was okay, not great. The beginning was a bit slow and I was a bit annoyed how it ended although I can't think of any conclusion that would have been particularly satisfying.

Grade - C

This is a terrible fucking movie. I'm seriously left wondering what the fuck the majority of critics were smoking when they saw this.

It's kind of interesting for about a half hour or so, as we learn the (decidedly) creepy back story of the titular room, and there's lots of nervous build up to Cusack's actual arrival in 1408 (the moment when he gets off the elevator and navigates through the labyrinth hallways of the hotel is the only truly scary thing in the movie), but once the "ghostly" stuff starts to happen, the movie careens into a narrative brick wall head on and becomes monotonous and actually kind of boring. It then piles on with a handful of false endings - each one worse than the last - until it finally reaches its nonsensical and completely trite actual closing.

The short story by Stephen King this movie is based on is actually quite terrifying, and there is a nugget of that found in the early parts here. It's just a shame it's all ruined by an over zealous, ham fisted filmmaker and John Cusack doing his best Nicholas Cage impression.

Ditto. If you've seen a good number of horror movies like I have, this movie is actually kind of boring most of the time because you know what's coming. I wasn't scared once and almost fell asleep more than once.

I am wondering the same thing too. I have no clue why everyone is raving about it even the asses on these boards.

1408 sucks balls.

I loved the film. Its one of the best psychological thrillers since Frailty. You can argue that the movie isnt too scary but a few scenes do work and theres more to the movie than just the thriller aspect. It works well as a story of a a doubter or skeptic as you may call him entering what normally would be called a hypical haunted room. The movie was more than that after the movie lingers on because it unravels Enslin's own demons and tragedy and why he acts the way he is. This is one of the elements where it works well like most Stephen King movies because you actually care for the main character and him to survive in the end. Theres also some redeeming value during the face off where he doesnt go with the old cliche of suicide opting of course to stay in the same repeated process of the hotel and a noble deed he does as a payoff.And what seals the movie in the end if the twist at the end which I think can be interpreted as one of few things.
Spoiler tag
I think he and his wife are now trapped in the hotel room or that the recording was sort of like a confession of how his daughter died
Grade : A

Or it's a reshoot that doesn't make much sense anyway, which I'd say is the likeliest explanation as this is the Weinstein Company

It's almost certainly been reshot considering what happens at the end of the trailer, something I'm very thankful for as having his daughter turn to ash in his arms is seriously fucked up.

Disappointed. The first 30-40 minutes were genuinely suspenseful, and I was on the edge of my seat when Cusack first entered the room. It's the kind of "we know the bomb is under the chair, but it didn't explode" suspense I like, but then the ghosts start to appear, and it became the cheap "we didn't know the bomb is under the chair, and it exploded" way of surprise. It felt repetitive and loud but never truly scary for the latter half. And the way the story tried to complete and end itself just got worse at each attempt.

C

Well I thought it was awesome, best horror film I've seen since the Descent. Where as that one left me actually with fear and will never go in a cave, this one was just a beautifully executed creepy film.

With Identity and now this, I hope Cusack branches more as I loved both films. Sam Jackson was good as was the rest of the cast. I was thoroughly entertained, and many concepts were top notch. A genuinely creepy film if not scary. There are some good jumping moments though.

Oh and easily one of the best non R rated horror films ever made. I couldnt believe this was PG-13 afterwards. I thought it was R going in. I wonder what the unrated DVD will be like

Oh goodness, where do I start with this mess of a film? Well, first I'd like to give a big old fuck you to it. I was extremely excited to see this and boy was I let down. Honestly, this film was almost as unintentionally funny as last years The Wicker Man. Me, my friend and her sister couldn't stop laughing throughout the whole entire thing. John Cusack was also horrible and was so repetitive. I swear to god, if he screamed for help or that his daughter didn't exist one more time I was going to shoot myself. All isn't bad though, the film starts out really good. It isn't until Cusack enters the hotel room itself when the film turns into an absolute mess. Also, I don't know why Samuel L. Jackson is on the poster. He was in the film for ten minutes tops. I just can't get over how funny this movie was and how horribly overrated it is. I can't believe the praise it's getting.

4/10 (D+)

Creepy movie with a few scary moments. Not a big fan of the ending though. B