REVIEW - 1408

by Mr. Blunderson

written by Scott Alexander, Matt Greenberg, Larry Karaszewski
based on the short story by Stephen King
directed by Mikael Hafstrom
rated PG-13 - 160 minutes

Horror as a genre has suffered as of late. Scares have been replaced by shocks, and jumps have been reduced to prolonged uncomfortable squirming. Horror at the mainstream box office has been co-opted by torture porn and ADHD editing and is on the verge of extinction as far as I am concerned. 1408 at least gives me hope for the future , even if it can't save the genre all by itself.

1408 is patient, deliberate, and well paced. John Cusack is undeniably solid, he does all the heavy lifting here. He is on screen from fade in to fade out, think Castaway as ghost story (only not as long) and you get the idea. Sam Jackson has a small but effective roll as the Hotel Manager who seems generally interested in keeping Cusack's paranormal debunker from spending the night in what he refers to as an "... evil fucking room."

Although effective and well made, there are a few things that don't completely work in 1408. There is a twist that causes the film to run out gas right before the climax, and sadly a lot of the weight that the film had earned up to that point is lost, rendering the resolution less effective.

This isn't the sort of film that was trimmed down from an R-rating to get a PG-13, the scares were based more on buildup, tension and good old fashioned psychology. The original ending (only included in the 2 disc special edition) was better but tested as a downer. Since this was a studio film, the suits have the final say leaving us with a suitable ending that can't help but feel like a bit of a let down.

If you want to see a chilling, intelligent, well-made movie I can recommend 1408 with a clear conscience. It is not the scariest movie you will ever see, but it is one of the best ghost stories to hit the big screen in years. For that I give it a "way decent" on the Mr. Blunderson scale.

Word From Big C vol. 9

I just checked the old e-mail and found a typed review from my good friend the movie buff, so for the first time in Cirque du Jerks history, the word from Big C comes straight from the horses mouth:

"so I watched a little movie called Blood Rayen 2 (still need to see the first) it was ok for a complete rip off of Blade. only minor differences like the setting is old west town the "blade" role is filled by a hot lady witch I liked much better then watching a dude. So in conclusion the movie was an ok but not nearly as captivating as the original Blade."