by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B+ PG-13 94 min
Trust Stephen King to rattle viewer’s cages with this frightening scenario based on his short story. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom, the story follows the adventures of Mike Enslin (John Cusack), who falls apart after losing his daughter. He leaves his wife to go on the road researching famous haunted houses for a book that will debunk their claims that the places are haunted.
Enslin’s book on the subject hits the best seller list, but his success is bittersweet. Mike is still grieving for his daughter. During his travels, Enslin becomes cynical about so-called haunted houses just being promotional gimmicks to draw tourists. He stays overnight at many of them, and no ghosts appear. He rates each Inn or Hotel with a scare factor.
Then Enslin hears about a haunted room at the Dolphin Hotel in NYC. He tries to book a room there but is refused by the desk clerk. He finds out from a lawyer that they have to give him the room. So he travels to NYC’s Dolphin Hotel and requests room 1408. The hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson) offers him an upgrade to a penthouse suite if he’ll agree not to stay in that room. In fact, the manager takes Enslin into his office and pleads with him not to stay in the room. “It’s evil,” he says, and produces a portfolio of gory pictures of people who were so frightened they killed themselves. One guy gouged his own eyes out.
But no, Enslin is insistent and demands the key. Finally, the manager gives in but warns him that no one has lasted an hour in that room. One can say he was properly warned, but Enslin thinks it’s a clever pitch to get him scared before he enters the room. But Enslin is walking into a hellish trap of paranormal happenings that drive him to the edge of madness.
Most of the film’s lens time goes to Cusack, who portrays Enslin skillfully, carefully building the tension and not overplaying Enslin’s slow descent into hell. Cusack does this without resorting to overblown histrionics. With great cynicism, Enslin sees the room as a normal hotel suite complete with a refrigerator and other amenities.
As things go from bad to worse, Enslin sees his dead daughter. Clearly, the evil that exists in the room is playing with his head. Soon, Enslin can’t tell reality from paranormal activity. His world is turned into a bad acid trip that will not end. He tries to send a video E-mail to his wife, who calls the cops, but they arrive to find an empty room. Enslin has crossed over into another dimension of a powerful evil entity that is trying to destroy him and take his soul.
Wow, Enslin just wanted a room with a good bed and a well-stocked liquor bar so that he could say he stayed there and say that nothing happened. What he got was the mother of all haunted rooms, which left no doubt that the room was alive and holding him captive. Early in his hour-long nightmare, Enslin went from skeptic to believer. Now he had no escape except to kill himself, which he resisted.
Cusack’s riveting acting holds the scenario together, making the viewer cringe, and hoping that Enslin can figure out how to beat the demon.
Stephen King has once again crafted a terrifying tale of evil possession. Hafstrom’s evenly paced scene-craft and special effects add the finishing touches on this classic horror picture. Hey, the manager warned him! But nooo, he had question the manager’s wisdom.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
