1408

Director: mikael håfström

Actor: john cusack,samuel l. jackson,mary mccormack,tony shalhoub

Data Published: Fri Jun 22 2007

Genres: Fantasy,Horror,Mystery

Key Words: paranormal phenomena,death of daughter,hotel,writer,haunted hotel

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450385/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1408_(film)

Description: 1408 is a movie starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mary McCormack. A man who specialises in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts...

Plot: Mike Enslin is a cynical, skeptical author who is estranged from his wife Lily after the death of their daughter Katie. Mike writes unsuccessful 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 forces the hotel to allow him to book the room, referencing a law that any hotel room in New York can be requested as long as it meets safety standards. The hotel manager, Gerald Olin 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, both suicides and "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 warns Mike about the danger, and attempts to bribe him to prevent him from entering 1408. Mike, who appears unmoved by the story, insists on staying in the room. Olin replies that it is not haunted; it is "an evil room." Once inside the room, Mike describes on his mini-cassette recorder the room's boring appearance and its unimpressive lack of supernatural behavior. During his examination, the clock radio starts playing "We've Only Just Begun", a hit song by The Carpenters. Mike assumes that Olin is pulling a prank to scare him. At 8:07, the song plays again and the clock's digital display changes to a countdown starting from "60:00." The window slams down and wounds his hand. He begins to see hallucinations and ghosts of the room's past victims, and visions of his own dead family members, including his father and Katie. Mike's attempts to leave are in vain: the brass room key breaks and is sucked into the lock and the doorknob falls off; 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 walking along the outside window ledge he sees 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, and Lily tells him the police have 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. They demolish the post office walls, revealing Mike is still trapped in the rubble of 1408. Katie's ghost confronts Mike, and after some reluctance he embraces her, but she dies and crumbles to dust. 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. When Mike asks why he hasn't just been killed already, "she" informs him that guests enjoy free will, and as such 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 from a bottle of cognac given to him by Olin, and sets the room on fire. The fire alarm sounds, the hotel is evacuated, and Lily is prevented from entering. After smoking a cigarette, Mike breaks a window, causing a backdraft. Mike then lies down on the floor and laughs in victory upon destroying the room. Two firemen break into the room and drag him out, and he warns them to not go in. Olin, in his office, says "Well done, Mr. Enslin". Mike survives, and he and Lily are seen back together in their home, although she is unsure of the supernatural events he has explained to her. Lily finds a box of Mike's possessions that were rescued from 1408 and suggests disposing of them. Mike takes the mini-cassette recorder from the box, saying, "Sometimes you can't get rid of bad memories. You've just got to live with them." Lily now realizes Mike is ready to move on from his daughter's death. Suddenly they hear Katie's voice on the recorder, confirming his account.