1408 (2007) #384

"1408" has instantly become one of my favorite Stephen King adaptions, so much so that I want to find the short story that inspired the film and read it. This film has a solid beginning, middle, and surprisingly, a very satisfying ending. It's a ghost story that works and that feels fresh and unique, with a clever twist that I haven't seen before. John Cusack is brilliant as Mike Enslin, a talented novelist who begins visiting "haunted" locations and writing books about his experiences. Mr. Cusack carries the weight of the film as he is in every scene and is supported by only a handful of other actors for brief moments; a prolonged scene with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson is truly delightful.

Mike Enslin is a novelist who writes about supernatural places and events, although he is a skeptic and doesn't believe in what he writes about. He receives an anonymous postcard from the Dolphin Hotel with a message "Don't enter 1408" written on it. Mike learns that dozens of people had died in that room in various gruesome ways.  He goes to the hotel to stay the night, finding legal loopholes to force the hotel management to allow him into the room. Gelarld Olin, the hotel manager, tries his best to dissuede Mike from going into the room by giving him a file full of pictures and police reports of some of the victims. Mike takes the file, a fancy bottle of scotch, and his wits with him into the innocent looking room, ignoring everyone's warnings. It's not long after his investigation begins that he realizes that there might be something to about the room after all....