1408 (2007)★★★☆☆

Ah, another Stephen King story I haven’t yet read. I feel like I’ve already read so much of his that it’s always surprising to see just how much I haven’t yet read. Anyway, add this one to the list of things I eventually want to read someday.

So I guess that means I liked this movie. Enough to be intrigued by the story, anyway. Plus I really like John Cusack. He’s been one of my favorite actors for almost as long as Kiefer Sutherland has. I’ll be honest, this isn’t really a shining example of his acting chops or anything.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s still pretty great in this, but I kind of felt like any decent actor could have pulled it off (though the wink to himself did send shivers down my spine).

Samuel L. Jackson, on the other hand…he was awesome. He’s probably my favorite part of this movie. And “it’s an evil fucking room” is probably my favorite line of this movie.

The music is a bit much at its best, and a distracting cacophony at its worst. The pacing is fine and the special effects mostly believable, but there’s just so much happening in the hotel room that it gets hard to follow at times. The climactic moments feel more busy than terrifying and there’s not a great payoff.

That said, I still liked it. It was entertaining throughout and did have me intrigued from the start. It’s better than just background noise, but not by much.