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1408
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 97 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Matt Greenberg
Scott Alexander
Larry Karaszewski
Stephen King (short story)
Directed by: Mikael Håfström
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 22, 2007
DVD: October 2, 2007
Running Time: 94 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language
Starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, and Tony Shalhoub
Renowned horror novelist Mike Enslin (Cusack) only believes what he can see with his own two eyes. After a string of bestsellers discrediting paranormal events in the most infamous haunted houses and graveyards around the world, he scoffs at the concept of an afterlife. Enslin's phantom-free run of long and lonely nights is about to change forever when he checks into suite 1408 of the notorious Dolphin Hotel for his latest project, "Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms." Defying the warnings of the hotel manager (Jackson), the author is the first person in years to stay in the reputedly haunted room. Another bestseller may be imminent, but like all Stephen King heroes, Enslin must go from skeptic to true believer - and ultimately survive the night. (MGM)
Also On Metacritic
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom creates a compelling ride of a movie. Every beat of the film is weighted with significance, and our mounting dread becomes almost intolerable.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The movie appeals to an old-fashioned sense of horror.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Swift, sharp adaptation of Stephen King's short story (from the "Everything's Eventual" collection).
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
This is the old stuff, the good stuff, the tried-and-true stuff of shrewdly accomplished audience manipulation.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Cusack, who is beginning to look disturbingly like Dustin Hoffman, is not only the film's center, but its orbit as well.
Read Full Review >USA Today Scott Bowles
At his best, King's most effective creatures are not the ones behind creaking doors, but inside crooked minds.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
This is the most mature horror movie of the year - far more adult and sophisticated than the tedious Hostel Part II. If you like to be creeped out by movies, this is one to see. It reminds us what it's like to be scared in a theater rather than overwhelmed by buckets of blood and gore.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
Even with its flaws, 1408 deserves to be appreciated by connoisseurs of acting and bravura filmmaking.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
The horror wouldn't work without Cusack, who makes what could have been a rote acting exercise--Be tough! Now angry! Now defensively funny!--a cathartic ritual instead.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
In the grand scheme of things, the Dolphin Hotel is no Overlook, but it's no cheesy slaughter motel either.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
The movie is most effective in its early scenes of prickly menace, and while the Dolphin is no Overlook (the haunted hotel in "The Shining"), its old-world creepiness is exactly right.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
While 1408 is no classic, it is refreshing to see a horror picture that just wants to do its job rather than prove to its audience how ruthlessly nihilistic it is.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
For about an hour or so, 1408 has you thinking you're watching The Next Great Horror Movie: That's how good the first half of this adaptation of Stephen King's short story about a haunted hotel room is.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Really wanting to get into our heads, 1408 tries awfully hard to play both sides of logic's boundary line -- tries and fails, and then succeeds, only to ultimately fail again. On the whole, the frights are frighteningly erratic.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
1408 isn’t great cinema, but does an adequate job in spite of its flaws.
Read Full Review >Empire Nick De Semlyen
Not up there with the best King adaptations, but a fun Gothic yarn that, like all good ghost stories, is simple and dripping with dread.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
One night in 1408 stretches out until it ends up feeling more like a routine three-day business trip. The scariest thing in it may be the way the clock radio has a way of turning itself on, loudly, of its own accord. The song is always the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun." Now THAT'S horror.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
A curse would be a great improvement on the wishy-washy wickedness of this movie.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
In the end, 1408 amounts to little more than a radical shock-therapy session for a man still finding his way after the loss of his daughter.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's an overblown campfire tale that doesn't know when to stop.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Adapted from a Stephen King story, this trite but watchable chiller plays like a scaled-down version of "The Shining," with Cusack driven over the edge by hallucinations of his abusive father and dead daughter.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 97 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
jon m gave it an8:
To say this movie is bad, boring or illogical simply means you are not watching it as it was intended or you are too jaded and desensitized from all the hostels and saws of the movie world. This movie is scary and not nearly as predictable as the cynics say (I doubt so many people actually guessed the movies better twists, they were simply bored from the lack of gore and didn't care.) This film also isn't nearly as CGI heavy as people say and only a few of the effects actually weighted the movie down. Having said all that, I know it wasn't pefect and there were certain elements that could have been removed/expounded upon. The movie also did have a very stupid ending that I am still comtemplating as to how one might find it scary. This really didn't detract from the movie, however, since Cusak managed to really "resolve" the film 9/10ths of the way in anyhow. All in all, it is a movie that deserves nothing less than a 5, but with the selection we currently have to choose from, I give it an 8.
joe h gave it an8:
Good movie, not perfect, but very very chilling. Honestly, in a world where horror movies are much better than they are now, I may not like this movie very much, but with all the crap we have to sit through, I actually enjoyed have a film really creep me out. I though the shining was mindnumbingly boring when I first watched it. I read the book and LOVED it, so I assumed the movie would be the classic it was hailed as. Turns out it was just a kid riding a trike for half an hour and some goofy close ups of shelly Duvall and Jack Nicklson. The reason I tried this movie was actually BECAUSE of the PG-13 rating; I figured if the producers felt confident releasing a horror film that wasn't an R than they must have something good. Turns out this movie is one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever seen. It was both intelligent as well relatable, without trying to hard to have a moral theme. The movie just IS scary, playing of your emotions and inner most fears, and not the visceral ones either, your REAL fears, even the ones you may not have realized you had. Of course it's not perfect, and it drags in a few spots, But the plot twists and writing (plus Cusak's performance) make for a GENUINELY scary film. I can understand why some might think the movie was a little haphazard or not fully realized (I never read the short story, so I can't comment on that), but if you don't like it because it's not a gore fest than grow an imagination and step outside your little world of superviolence for something that ACTUALLY has substance.
Jack B gave it a2:
This did not make any sense at all. It wasn't even close to the thrill of "The Shining". And the movie left a huge unanswered question. What was this movie about anyway.
Job A gave it a9:
Stephen King,Steven King-only a great mind like his could make such a great movie.I've seen this movie 4 times and still love it just as much as when I first saw it.
mike gave it a0:
I actually liked how the film started out! Up to the point where he enters room 1408 and then it became a big mess of a movie!!! stay away from this movie!!!!!!!
Gail G gave it an8:
Better than 95% of what I see. Held my attention overall and I really dug the fact that no arms came out of mirrors to choke the main character or other silly effects. Anything that is Hollywood is gonna be a bit overblown to compete with the "gotta have it now" pace we're all used to, but this one, effects-wise, struck me as way more tasteful and intelligent than the usual fare. In fact, I don't even think I'd call it a ghost movie---more like a 'thing from the Id" movie, which is a lot scarier than some protoplasmic junk floating around. After all, what's hidden deep in our heads is a lot scarier than movie effects, and Cusack was plenty good enough to show this effectively. Samuel L. Jackson was no slouch either--powerhouse scary guy, with a menacing elegance at his command.
John P gave it a0:
Cusack has long been one of my favorite NON high profile actors because of his choice of movies in general. But alas he lost me on this one. This movie was simply a recylced FX vehicle and if anyone thinks it was more than that then they looked way too hard and deep. As is many American movies the beginnings have promise and then falter into the writers abyss. By that I mean they run out of any credible imagination, originality and passion. If your not going to make any sense at least attempt to be entertaining, which this movie was not. This movie on the making sense level was close to The Lakehouse and that my friends was baddddd. So.. not in great company I must say. Think I'll go and write a screenplay, never have attempted one but heck sure as hell couldn't be as bad.
