1408 (film)

1408 is a 2007 American psychological horror film based on Stephen King's 1999 short story of the same name. It is directed by Mikael Håfström and stars John Cusack. The film was released in the United States on June 22, 2007, although July 13 (which in 2007 fell on a Friday) is mentioned as the release date on the website.

1408
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMikael Håfström
Produced byLorenzo di Bonaventura
Screenplay by
Based on"1408"
by Stephen King
Starring
Music byGabriel Yared
CinematographyBenoît Delhomme
Edited byPeter Boyle
Production
company
di Bonaventura Pictures
Distributed byDimension Films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • June 22, 2007 (2007-06-22)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[1]
Box office$133 million[2]

The film follows Mike Enslin, an author who investigates allegedly haunted houses and rents the titular room 1408 at a New York City hotel. Although skeptical of the paranormal, he is soon trapped in the room where he experiences bizarre events. Reviews were mostly positive and the film did well at the box office.

Plot

Michael "Mike" Enslin is a cynical, skeptical author who is estranged from his wife Lily after the death of their daughter Katie. Mike writes niche books evaluating supernatural events in which he has no belief. After his latest book, he receives an anonymous postcard depicting The Dolphin, a hotel on Lexington Avenue in New York City bearing the message, "Don't enter 1408." Viewing this as a challenge, Mike arrives at The Dolphin and requests room 1408.

The hotel manager, Gerald Olin, attempts to discourage him. He explains to Mike that in the last 95 years, no one has lasted more than an hour inside of Room 1408; the latest count is 56 deaths, all suicides or "natural" deaths. The horrors began with a wealthy businessman named Kevin O'Malley, who inexplicably committed suicide in the room when the hotel opened. Olin even attempts to bribe him with a free room upgrade but Mike insists so preparations are reluctantly made.

Inside the room, Mike describes on his mini-cassette recorder the room's boring appearance and lack of supernatural behavior. The clock radio suddenly starts playing "We've Only Just Begun", a hit song by The Carpenters. At 8:07, the song plays again and the clock's digital display changes to a countdown starting from "60:00." Mike begins to see ghosts of the room's past victims, followed by flashbacks of his dead daughter Katie and his sick father. His attempts to leave are in vain: climbing through the air ducts prompts an attack from the corpse of O'Malley, and when he tries to escape to an adjacent room by climbing out the window and sidling along the outside ledge, he finds that the windows of the other rooms have disappeared.

Mike uses his laptop to contact Lily, pleading with her to call the police, but the sprinkler system short circuits his laptop. The room temperature drops to subzero when the laptop suddenly begins to work again. Lily tells him that the police have already entered 1408, but the room is empty. A doppelgänger of Mike appears in a video chat window and urges Lily to come to the hotel herself; it gives Mike a sly wink. The room shakes violently and Mike breaks a picture of a ship in a storm. Water pours from the broken picture, flooding the room. He surfaces on a beach and relives a surfing accident seen earlier in the film. His life continues from this point, and he reconciles with Lily.

Assuming his experience in 1408 was just a nightmare, Lily encourages him to write a book about it. When visiting the post office to send the manuscript to his publisher, he recognizes members of a construction crew as Dolphin Hotel staff. The employees then destroy the post office's walls, revealing that Mike is still trapped in the rubble of 1408. He sees Katie's ghost again, and when the countdown ends, the room is suddenly restored to normal, and the clock radio resets itself to 60:00.

The "hotel operator" calls Mike. Mike asks why he hasn't been killed yet and she informs him that guests enjoy free will: he can relive the past hour over and over again, or use their "express checkout system". A hangman's noose appears and Mike has a vision of himself hanged, but he refuses to give in. Deciding to quit running, Mike improvises a Molotov cocktail and sets the room on fire. The hotel is evacuated. After smoking a cigarette, Mike breaks a window, causing a backdraft. He then lies down and laughs in victory upon destroying the room. Olin, in his office, praises Mike for his actions.

Endings

There are four different endings to this film. In addition to the ending that appears in the theatrical release (also the default ending of the DVD), three alternate endings were shot. The incentive for this was based on the director's belief that King's intention, in his original short story, was to leave the conclusion ambiguous. None of the four endings match the ending of King's original short story.

Theatrical ending

This one is the default ending of the theatrical release and its theatrical release DVD.

Mike survives, and he and Lily are back together, though Lily is skeptical of his experience. She finds a box of Mike's possessions that were rescued from 1408 and Mike takes the mini-cassette recorder from it, saying, "Sometimes you can't get rid of bad memories. You've just got to live with them." Lily realizes that Mike is ready to move on from his daughter's death. Suddenly, they hear Katie's voice on the recorder, confirming his account.

Director's Cut ending

Director Mikael Håfström said that the ending for 1408 was reshot because test audiences felt that the original ending was too much of a "downer."[3] This first alternative ending was used in the theatrical release.

The original discarded ending had Mike dying from his fire injuries, but happy to see the room destroyed. During Mike's funeral, Olin approaches Lily and Mike's publisher Sam Farrell. He unsuccessfully attempts to give her a box of Mike's possessions, including the tape recorder. Olin claims that the room was successfully destroyed and that it will no longer hurt anyone else. He later listens to the recording in his car, and becomes upset when he hears Katie's voice on the tape. He sees a little girl walking on the cemetery grass behind the car, in a dress, calling out as if she is lost. He then sees Mike's burnt corpse in the backseat. Then he sees the same girl holding hands with her father as they walk away. Olin places the tape recorder back in the box and drives off. The final scene is of the gutted room, where an apparition of Mike looks out the window while smoking a cigarette. He hears his daughter calling his name, and disappears as he walks toward her. A door is heard closing and the scene fades.

This ending is the default ending on the Blu-ray release and two-disc collector's edition. Canadian networks Space and The Movie Network, and U.S. network FX broadcast this version of the film, but Space broadcast the theatrical ending on July 23, 2012. This ending is also used on the U.K. and Australian DVDs, and the U.S. iTunes, Netflix and Amazon Prime versions of the film.

Second alternate ending

Another ending uses elements from both the theatrical ending and the discarded original ending.

Mike dies from his fire injuries. Afterwards, Olin remarks "Well done, Enslin. Well done." Instead of the funeral scene, the sounds of a funeral are dubbed over shots of Los Angeles. Lily and Sam sort through Mike's effects. Sam returns to his New York office and discovers the manuscript that Mike wrote about Room 1408. As Sam reads the story, audio from Mike's experiences in the room is heard. In a final scene, Sam's office doors slam shut and Mike's father's voice says, "As I was, you are. As I am, you will be."

Third alternate ending

In a third ending, Mike survives and Lily moves to Los Angeles with him. When he plays the tape of Katie's voice from 1408, Lily hears it and looks shocked. Mike stares at Lily strangely. This is the ending shown on the Australian streaming service Presto and on Netflix in Japan. Netflix in the Netherlands used to show this ending, but later changed it to the ending used in the theatrical release.

Cast

Production

In November 2003 and 2004, Dimension Films optioned the rights to the 1999 short story "1408" by Stephen King. The studio hired screenwriter Matt Greenberg to adapt the story into a screenplay.[4] In October 2005, Mikael Håfström was hired to direct 1408, with the screenplay being rewritten by screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.[5] In March 2006, actor John Cusack was cast to star in the film,[6] joined by actor Samuel L. Jackson the following April.[7] In July, actress Kate Walsh was cast to star opposite Cusack as the protagonist's ex-wife,[8] but she was forced to exit in August due to scheduling conflicts with her role on Grey's Anatomy. She was replaced by actress Mary McCormack.[9] According to Cusack, the Roosevelt Hotel in New York was used for some of the exterior shots of the Dolphin.[10] The lobby scenes were filmed at the Reform Club in London.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 176 reviews, with an average rating of 6.66/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Relying on psychological tension rather than overt violence and gore, 1408 is a genuinely creepy thriller with a strong lead performance by John Cusack."[12] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.[14]

James Berardinelli awarded the film three stars out of four, praising it as "the best horror film of the year." He offered significant praise for Cusack's performance as Mike Enslin, writing that "this is John Cusack's movie to carry, and he has no problem taking it where it needs to go." He found the film to be a refreshing experience, believing it "reminds us what it's like to be scared in a theater rather than overwhelmed by buckets of blood and gore".[15] Many critics believed the film to be far superior to other adaptations of Stephen King novels and stories. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a very positive review, describing the film as "one of the good Stephen King adaptations, one that maintains its author's sly sense of humor and satiric view of human nature". He ultimately believed the film to be a "more genuinely scary movie than most horror films".[16]

Several critics, however, found the film to be underwhelming. Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe wrote a mixed review, describing the film as "a lot of consonants and no vowels." He went on to compare the film unfavorably to The Shining, a similar King adaptation, believing 1408 lacked that film's "lunging horror and dramatic architecture." Although he believed the film "conjures a wonderful anticipatory mood of dread in the first 30 minutes," he ultimately believed the film "then blows it to stylish smithereens".[17] Rob Salem of the Toronto Star awarded the film two stars out of four, believing it to be a predictable, "hit and miss" production. Like Morris, Salem wrote that "Even as haunted hotel King movies go, 1408 is certainly no Shining. Not even the TV-movie version."[18]

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film opened in second place at the box office, grossing US$20.6 million in 2,678 theaters.[19] 1408 had a production budget of US$25 million.[20] The film went on to gross US$132 million, of which US$71.9 million was from Canada and the United States.[20]

Home media

The DVD was released on October 2, 2007 by Genius Products with a standard 1-Disc Edition (widescreen or fullscreen), and a 2-Disc Collector's Edition that contains both versions of the ending and an unrated edition of the film which restored 6 more minutes of the film.[21]

See also

References
  1. Box Office Mojo (2003-11-05). "1408". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  2. Box Office Mojo (2003-11-05). "1408". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  3. Advance Hint At 1408 DVD Contents, DVD News.
  4. David Rooney (2003-11-05). "Dimension checking into room '1408'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  5. "Hafstrom to direct '1408'". Variety. 2005-10-25. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  6. Ian Mohr (2006-03-08). "Cusack finds a room in King's '1408'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  7. Michael Fleming (2006-04-03). "'1408' gets another guest". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  8. Ian Mohr (2006-07-11). "Walsh's room is '1408'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  9. Ian Mohr (2006-08-13). "'1408' books a new tenant". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  10. Fandango Summer Movies – Movie Tickets and Theatre Showtimes Archived 2007-08-01 at Archive.today
  11. "Where was '1408' filmed? – British Film Locations". British Film Locations. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  12. "1408 (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  13. "1408 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  14. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  15. Berardinelli, James (2007). "Review: 1408". preview.reelviews.net. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  16. LaSalle, Mick (June 22, 2007). "Checkout time? Much sooner than you think". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  17. Morris, Wesley (2007-06-22). "As thrillers go, '1408' leaves too much room for fun". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  18. Salem, Rob (2007-06-22). "'1408': Hoary movie". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  19. "Weekend Box Office Results for June 22–24, 2007". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  20. "1408 (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  21. "Official web site". Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
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