A quick introduction; every week I'll be discussing a film that I feel needs defending from the movie-going masses. Under-appreciated, overlooked or just plain misunderstood, I'll be picking through scenes and telling you why each film deserves to be seen as well as what makes it work. I'll also try touch on why each film is looked on in a negative light. This is currently a bit of an experimental column, so please, comment and let me know if you liked it or not and if you want to see more. So, without further adieu...
Oh and this is full of spoilers too, so if you want to go in fresh, don't read on!
IN DEFENCE OF - 1408 (2007, HAFSTROM)
There aren't many out there who hate 1408. There are even less who love it. The thing is that hardly anyone has seen it. Released onto Irish audiences on August 31st, 2007, 1408 played for roughly 2 weeks before vanishing from your local multiplex. Which for most films is a relatively small amount of time. Sure, the film made it's budget back and then some in the United States as well as making another heavy chunk of change in the EU, but every time I bring it up in a conversion with fellow genre geeks they either frown or shrug their shoulders, not knowing the film I'm talking about. That has to change.
1408 starts out with our tortured hero, Mike Enslin, travelling through a stormy night to the Weeping Beech Inn, where he'll check into yet another supposed haunted hotel room. Here he finds a friendly, cookie-cutter couple who inform him of the grizzly suicides and deaths that have occurred throughout the hotel's history. Finding his way to his room, we get our first glimpse of Mike's attitude towards his life. He spends his night sipping pricey booze and wondering if he'll get a glimpse at this so-called ghost. You see, while Mike has made a career of writing about haunted hotels, motels and castles, he's never actually had a supernatural encounter (which we find out moments later at a book signing). This, combined with the death of his daughter, has left him deeply cynical and morose. Mike is a fully-realized character. He's a father who lost his child, he's a husband who left his wife, he's a writer with no motivation. All of these pieces come together wonderfully in John Cusack's performance, leading us to route for him and his escape of room 1408.
When the film was initially released, the moderately positive reviews seemed to overlook the power of Cusack's performance. Throughout it's running time we see him go through a huge range of emotions, capturing the madness of his character perfectly. When Mike briefly escapes his living hell and makes it back to LA only to see he's still trapped in the room, it's really great stuff. His terrifying realization is one of the best scenes in the movie and if you're invested in the film and the character, it'll break your heart. Cusack is a great actor and this film, along with High Fidelity, really showcases his ability as a performer.
Also, these days genre fans cry out when they here an upcoming project has been labelled PG-13 by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association Of America) or 15A here in Ireland. If a production is met with this certification, it usually means the horror and violence is toned down. As a genre nut, I can say I haven't seen too many PG-13 horror films that are memorable in any way. But 1408, which was given the dreaded rating, works fantastically (almost better than some of the horror films released that year) because while it focuses mainly on psychological terror and horrific themes, it still packs some gruesome imagery. As the terror begins to build and Mike starts to notice strange happenings in the Dolphin Hotel's infamous room, he calls out for help from a stranger in a neighbouring building. As he waves to get attention, he realizes that this stranger is a reflection of himself. Suddenly, behind his reflection comes a maniac wielding a hammer who smashes the tool into the man's skull. Cut back to the real Mike, horrified by what he's seen, turning to see the same armed maniac now in HIS room, lunging at him in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Shortly thereafter, Mike witnesses his first ghost; a haunting spirit that relives it's own suicide by throwing itself from the room's window. This imagery is truly frightening in and of itself; witnessing the last moments of a human being's life before they splat across Manhattan's sidewalks. While I disagree with the director over his style used for the ghosts, which I think was what put some people off, I still think it's highly effective imagery. One more neat little scene (and one that's sure to send the mysophobics in the audience into overdrive) sees Mike examining the carpet and bed linen for ghastly residue. As he investigates we see the bloody stains from suicides, splatter from mutilations and other sorts of grue left all over.
Hotel rooms are generally creepy places. You check in, shower and watch TV. All the while oblivious to the things that have (or at least could have) gone down in your room. Who stayed there before? And what did those people do in your room? 1408 takes this idea and runs with it. It also makes the point that while you're surrounded by hundreds of other occupied rooms, whose to help you if something awful were to happen? You're in this temporary home all on your own.
A final point of praise for 1408. I have always loved the idea that while Samuel L. Jackson's character, Mr. Olin, explains, "It's an evil fucking room", the room is more than that. When Mike is in there, it forces him to face all the things he's tried to hide away in his mind. His caustic relationship with his father is brought to the forefront when the room's spirits take the form of Mike's ailing father whose trapped in a nursing home (he was placed there by Mike). The room taunts the writer with the fact that his daughter is dead and gone and that he'll never see her again. So, while there are many obvious terrors to be found in the room, there are also many underlying horrors waiting to creep up and drive you insane with guilt, anger or regret. And what could be worse than having the repercussions of your mistakes and fights shoved in your face over and over?
So there you have it. The first (and hopefully not last) of this column. Don't forget, if you liked the article, let me know what you liked about it, or even what you didn't like about it. And don't forget to chime in and tell me what you thought of the above flick. Let's get this discussion going.
