In case you've been living under a rock 1408 stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. It's about a writer (Cusak) that spends his career staying in "haunted" hotels and writes about them. He is of course a skeptic that has never witnessed anything. He's got a chip on his shoulder and has suffered a family tragedy, thus creating his cynical world view. He stays in 1408 and this time, he'll experience hell itself.
1408 has the unique distinction of being the highest weekend gross for a Stephen King adaptation ever. Too bad it is also another lackluster disappointment.
The film has a great premise and is well acted and competently directed throughout. The problem lies in the script. The first 45-60 min. are great but the film quickly loses steam. Instead of a blitzkrieg of mind bending scenes where we question what is real and what is fake, we get a few very long ones. And as the film progresses it becomes easier to tell what is real and what is fake and by the end I just didn't really care. The ending isn't very satisfying with some character development but no real "final battle" or crazy twist or reveal. It just sort of....ends, dramatically of course, but cheaply so.
I give this film a 4/10 because it did not accomplish what it set out to do. It was not a creepy thriller/horror film but rather a dull exercise in personal development. I wasn't engaged and wasn't scared. For a film with a huge budget and great actors it could have been much better, especially since this was the Director's cut. I never saw the theatrical version so perhaps that version works a bit better with a shorter run time. I don't know. I was excited to see this and was very disappointed with the poor handling of a great premise.
Gore - none
Nudity - none
Overall 4/10
1408 has the unique distinction of being the highest weekend gross for a Stephen King adaptation ever. Too bad it is also another lackluster disappointment.
The film has a great premise and is well acted and competently directed throughout. The problem lies in the script. The first 45-60 min. are great but the film quickly loses steam. Instead of a blitzkrieg of mind bending scenes where we question what is real and what is fake, we get a few very long ones. And as the film progresses it becomes easier to tell what is real and what is fake and by the end I just didn't really care. The ending isn't very satisfying with some character development but no real "final battle" or crazy twist or reveal. It just sort of....ends, dramatically of course, but cheaply so.
I give this film a 4/10 because it did not accomplish what it set out to do. It was not a creepy thriller/horror film but rather a dull exercise in personal development. I wasn't engaged and wasn't scared. For a film with a huge budget and great actors it could have been much better, especially since this was the Director's cut. I never saw the theatrical version so perhaps that version works a bit better with a shorter run time. I don't know. I was excited to see this and was very disappointed with the poor handling of a great premise.
Gore - none
Nudity - none
Overall 4/10
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