1408

1408 (2007) takes place in a hotel room, and nobody who enters it lasts more than an hour. Mike Enslin stays in supposedly haunted places and writes books debunking them. He believes in nothing and the books exist to prove it. He hears about room 1408 in a New York hotel. The manager tries to talk him out of it and gives him a number: fifty six people have died in there. He goes in anyway. The rest happens in one room. The idea is this: the room does not chase anyone. The door is open, you can leave. The room shows you your own past, and that is what keeps you there. It comes from a Stephen King short story. The reason it counts among the better King adaptations is that the story stays small. More than one ending was shot. It was changed after test screenings and different versions carry different endings; the director's cut ends noticeably darker. John Cusack carries almost all of it alone. Samuel L. Jackson appears only at the start, and that short scene is the best tension in the film. The fear is built from small changes in the room rather than sudden noise. It runs 104 minutes. Good for: psychological horror, single location films, and King adaptations. Less good for: anyone expecting conventional horror may be bored, and the last section falls apart.