REVIEW - "1408" (2007)

“1408” could have been a much greater movie if it wasn’t so busy being a by-the-book haunted house flick with a different structure. Sure it feels and looks fresh and different, but it uses the same gimmicks and scares every ghost flick does. What sells this movie is John Cusack’s amazing performance with a side dish of academy award winning sound effects.

Cusack’s character, Mike Enslin, is a writer known for debunking so-called paranormal activity in hotels across the country. However, when he visits the massive Dolphin Hotel he begins to find it harder to prove a fake. As the room gives him an hour to survive it dives in to his mind, his personal thoughts and torturous past history concerning a deceased daughter.

The story is, both, just as cliché and intriguing as you think it is. There are moments in the film where I felt that the movie was very original and worked well as a powerful character study. Then there were moments where I was wishing it didn’t resort to antics that were done better in “The 6th Sense” and “Signs." At times it reminded me how bad “House on Haunted Hill” was.

The movie starts out very promising. Enslin’s character is very believable. What he does and how he’s introduced to the room is very easily acceptable and the owner of the hotel (played beautifully by Samuel L. Jackson) sets the scene with a great deal of anticipation. We’re told about all the horrific events that have taken place in 1408 and it disturbs the audience enough to be prepared for the worst. Though, to my relief, the movie stays away from the ever grotesque torture-porn concepts made popular by “Saw”. It’s not gory and the first few events that happen to Enslin are very suspenseful.

Inevitibly, the intensity of the film dies down and the gimmicks start becoming obvious. There are some clever ideas here and there, but a large portion of the “scares” become tiring. This doesn’t detract from the film too much because Enslin’s character is fleshed out during his battle with the room. Instead of setting up what made Enslin the person he is at the beginning of the film we discover the events of his past through the room playing with his mind.

Now while I enjoyed watching Enslin’s character do battle with the room, I began wondering what the film was trying to be. Is it a new take on the haunted hotel/house genre where there is a battle of wills between the character and the paranormal? Or another haunted building story where the character is simply trapped and trying to escape? The two ideas kind of run together and I suppose you can filter out which idea you prefer more. But I sat there being both intrigued and unimpressed during various points of the film. Next time I’ll watch it with the character vs. the paranormal point of view in mind.

What really, really saves this movie is the performance by John Cusack. Despite the flaws of the movie itself, he plays the character as realistically as such a character would act. It’s almost a one-man-movie and Cusack hold’s the audiences interest until the very, very end. As weird as it feels to say this, it’s probably one of Cusack’s very best and versitile performances. (And it’s a ghost flick. Go figure?)

“1408” probably won’t wow a grand majority of people, but it will entertain while keeping a substantial amount of substance. It’s not overly thrilling or even scary, but it has a bit more to offer than your regular ghost flick.

**½ out of ****