1408 The Directors cut

I just saw 1408, the directors cut. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Mikael Håfström directs John Cusack as a writer who specializes in debunking haunted hotel claims. Mike Enslin, Cusack’s character, is a burned out maybe alcoholic who has a heavy weight over his head. After a brief opening segment where we get to know Mike, he is challenged by someone, via post, card to not stay in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel in New York City.

Samuel Jackson is Gerald Olen the Dolphin’s Manager. Olen tries his best to dissuade Mike from staying in room 1408, with everything from bribes, to ghastly tales of past deaths. Of course our hero Mike refuses these enticements because he believes that it is all a put on, that there is no haunting, that the Olen just wants the publicity.

Just about the minute that Mike enters room 1408, the ghostly antics begin. Like Olen says “It's an evil fucking room”.

There is a whole sub-plot that involves Mike’s deceased daughter. Somehow, room 1408 draws from its resident’s pain and suffering and throws it back in their face in order to push them over the edge. Cusack plays a great tortured soul facing his worst moments in life. The room incessantly teases Mike with pain, then release, only to fall back into the reality of his being trapped in 1408.

The end of the directors cut is very different then that of the theatrical release. It is just as creepy, but very different. I would definitely give 1408 the directors cut a 4 out of 5 skulls.