He writes cheesy, repetitive 'ghostly' travel books ( 10 Haunted Hotels, 10 Haunted Lighthouses) he researches them by spending nights in supposedly haunted rooms, then produces rote manuscripts that appeal to unimaginative readers (his disdain for his audience is revealed during a public reading attended by a few dimwitted fans). Mike ( John Cusack) is depressed about what he does for a living. 1408, based on one of King's short stories, is sort of a mix of both. He also writes frequently about what it feels like to write about scary things and places. Stephen King makes a good living writing about scary things and places. Maybe for me there's a lack of information about how and why this room became such. But anyway it is appropriate and atmosphere. In my opinion, the tired movie tropes that probably shouldn’t have been there are: locked murderous room, and everyone said to the protagonist 'Don't go there' (it was useless of course). And I like the choise of actors for this movie, and their acting, of course.

The film is sad, the main character's past was shown to spectator step by step. There are some philosophical ideas about our loved once, missed targets, beliefs and broken hopes. I like that in 1408 there are no violent or disgusting gory scenes, the man only gets his hand caught by the window. Old tricks such as a haunted room with blood oozing from walls and defective taps and doors are really creepy here (but the zombie is not). And at the same time the movie is not too complicated for perception.

After watching the feeling of unsolved conundrum remains. What's interesting, our opinion about the reality of the events is changing a few times during the film, and I can't be sure that the final impression is right.

1408 full movie