1408

The recent dullness in the themes of horror movies has spawned countless remakes and sequels that do nothing to the intellect of their viewers. “Torture porn” movies like “Saw,” “Hostel,” and the upcoming film “Captivity” have and will continue to sucker their audiences into mindless antics of blood, gore, and nudity. They are three elements that overpower the genuine stories in horror movies everywhere. Thankfully, director Mikael Håfström has noticed this pathetic trend, and has decided to make an intelligent response to these films.

Working from a script based on a story by the legendary author Stephen King, Håfström dutifully makes use of more elaborate film making gimmicks and visual trickery His new film, “1408,” cleverly develops a story centered around his characters and the world’s most terrifying hotel room. It’s the kind of horror movie that brings back the honest respect to the genre with a much needed twist of visual flare.

“1408” follows the story of Mike Enslin; a writer, researcher, and debunker of paranormal myths. With brilliant realistic perfection, Mike Enslin is brought to life by the multi-talented John Cusack. Cusack takes his character, along with the audience, on an emotional journey through the secret evils of the world. Never having witnessed a true paranormal event, Mike Enslin is a skeptical believer of the “otherworld.” When he is greeted by a postcard from The Dolphin Hotel in New York that simply reads “Stay out of 1408,” Enslin becomes enticed, but takes it as any normal spooky hotel.

To the audience, there is something still very fishy about this hotel and its particular room. Most of the weariness comes from Samuel L. Jackson, playing the Hotel manager, Gerald Olin. Much like the strage postcard, Olin also pleads with Enslin to stay out of the room. While their encounter is full of jokes, it still manages to maintain a foreboding creepiness already sustained so well in the film. While staying in the room, Enslin is treated with every ghost cliche in the book and makes humorous note of them with his skeptical sarcasm. Soon, the tricks start becoming more seriously original, and Enslin finds himself in a maze of fear that tackles his inner thoughts and regrets.

Cusack delivers the perfect amount of comedy to keep this horror movie down to earth with natural human instincts and fears. Never has an actor approached a role like this one and portrayed it as engaging as Cusack. What strikes the uniqueness of the film is the fact that the bulk of the film takes place in room 1408. As the story digs deeper into the heart of Enslin, we realize there is more than ghosts that haunt him. His troubled past takes center stage and becomes more and more haunting as the plot unravels. This calls for a spot on performance that nearly overtakes the beautiful visual tricks and set pieces that this horror movie has to offer. Since this time warp of a room can seemingly create anything, the film makers go all out in designing environments to place inside the room itself. Snow, rain, fog, and destruction; you name it and this room can do it.

The efforts of Mikael Håfström turn out to be some of the best work a horror movie has experimented with since John Carpenter experimented back in his early days with his masterpiece, “Halloween.” It was a film that was so revolutionary, it made a drastic change in the way horror movies were made. “1408” may not be as revolutionary as “Halloween,” but the impact that it should have on the horror genre is a very important one. “1408” proves there is still great creepiness in a genuine horror story. More importantly, it a story driven by the emotions of its characters and the supernatural environments that are beyond the capacity of the human mind.

1408

Rated PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language

Runtime: 94 min.

Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack

Directed by Mikael Håfström