Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
I'm a big John Cusack fan and I like Samuel L. Jackson. Stephen King is one of my favourite authors. And now all of them have converged. How could I not get out to see this one?
My memory of the story is weak, and perhaps I shall have to read it again soon, but I think Rish remembers it well and can probably tell you how well they line up.
Mike Enslin is a writer who is currently in the middle of his next book about the haunted places in America. We get the impression that they read a bit like tour books and that he uses, of all things, Skulls to let his readers know just how scary a place is. Well, he gets a postcard from someone telling him to stay in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel in New York. He decides to try it out and stays there even after all the hotel manager does to dissuade him. Fear ensues.
My fondness of John Cusack will probably show through a bit here, but even in some of the sillier moments I enjoyed watching this movie. The first half of the movie (as is so often the case) is tense and scary and very well done. After that, they sort of descend into that place horror movies tend to go where they try to come up with scary ideas and then just sort of film them all and try to edit them into the semblance of a plot. There are a couple very good moments toward the end, but there is a bit to wade through between the beginning and the end.
John Cusack did a great job. Even in the emotional scenes, which aren't always his strength. Samuel L. Jackson was good while he was on screen. I thought he was under-utilized until they tried to cram him into the action in the middle and it didn't really work.
The movie is definitely worth seeing, and while it might not be quite as good or scary as Cusack's last horror outing, Identity, it is a good movie. It probably sits a bit above the middle of the pack for Stephen King movies, which is a good place to be.
Posted: July 4, 2007

Rish Outfield's Reviews
I remember when I first read "1409" by Stephen King.* Or rather, the first time I heard it, as I was one of those die-hard fans who bought King's "Blood & Smoke" audiobook. It contained three stories, and this was the weakest one.
So who would've guessed that such a good movie could come out of it?
John Cusack, apparently, because he makes this film. Without him, I would've cared a lot less. And they paint him in a slightly unsympathetic light, so he really brings something to the role. Had the part been played by a less charismatic, less human actor, I wouldn't have cared. Maybe I would've wanted him to die (King has been known to stick unsympathetic protagonists in his stories so that we get a twisted thrill in seeing them suffer). But they didn't, and we didn't.
The original King story had a great buildup, but once you get into the room, it's all downhill from there. This adaptation stayed a lot more consistent. There were some good scares, especially early on, though once the setpieces got big, it all got a lot less scary. I don't really know why that is, but tyranist agreed with me. Subtle things, like shadows and images and people and sounds, are scarier than big things, like earthquakes and monsters and giant computer-generated landscapes.
The ending is particularly strong, even though it shouldn't have really worked. But hey, I'll take whatever good I can find, even if I don't know how it got there.
This is another of those films where I started the review right after seeing it (this was on the big screen, opening weekend), and thinking I had already reviewed it, forgot about it for months. So, enough time has passed now that I'm not able to give any specific points about it. I did like it, though, and if you're a haunted house fan (or a Cusack fan), you probably will too.
*Why do I insist on calling this "1409?" I don't know why, but I noticed it two times in this review (three now). It's 1408, dammit.
Posted: October 30, 2007

Total Skulls: 13

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?