1408

By: Lovey

Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson
Rating: 2 out of 1408

I was soooo looking forward to a good scary movie. I saw the trailer for 1408 and have to admit that I couldn’t wait to see it. I knew this was a scary movie that would require some planning – like making sure I set aside time to watch it during the day, and definitely not alone.

Or so I thought.   

1408 was the most boring movie I have seen for a long time – and take into account the fact that last week, I watched The Lake House!   

It starts out slow and continues to stay slow.

The main character, Mike (played rather statically by John Cusack) is a writer who chases ghosts and then writes stories about his experiences. The weird thing is that despite his occupation, Mike has never seen a ghost or a phantom, or a spirit, or a specter, poltergeist or banshee. The man doesn’t even believe in them.   

Straight away you pick up the fact that Mike is a struggling writer with something in his past that he isn’t over. In the movie it’s the death of his child, but personally, I think the problem is his acting, and the script. These forces combine to make even me lose empathy for his past.

The main issue I have with the movie is that the so-called ‘ghosts’ in are so poorly done they are a joke. Casper the friendly ghost does scary better. The special effects in Ghostbusters looked more realistic.    

Back to the story goes, Mike sees his first ghost and loses it completely, upon which any remaining shred of respect for his character is lost. Over the next 60 minutes or so, the movie jumps from Mike’s boring past to his weird present and back.

The scariest thing in the movie happens in the final two minutes and lasts all of two seconds. I won’t go into it because if you know it’s coming then there will really be no point to the movie.

1408 is so bad that I actually got homework done and talked to my sister while watching the movie!   

Stick to watching the trailer – it’s better than the movie.

Verbatim: Mike Enslin:
”Stay scared.”

In a word: Boring