1408

Strange_One

Search didn't bring anything up, so I assumed there wasn't a thread.

This year I've seen PotC 3, Surf's Up, Ratatouille, and 1408 in theaters. Honestly, 1408 is the one I'd most like to go see again, and probably my favorite.

Last night me, my mom, my sister, and my two aunts were debating on going out to see it, but after I showed mom this (review with very small spoilers) she figured it'd be worthwhile.

And it was!

I haven't seen the Stephen King story, so I don't know how the movie compares. I also don't go see movies often, and I see horror movies far less often (seriously, as in the last 'horror' movie I saw in theaters was The Village years ago), so I don't really know how it stacks up to other stuff out there, but I found it really creepy and well-done. I mean I wasn't worried about nightmares and it's not like I'm never going to stay in another hotel room ever again, but the writing, acting, and special effects were great. Especially in the first half, you're really tense and waiting to see what the hell that place is going to throw at him next. It also never got boring, which is a big plus.

The EVIL that place had was just so palpable, I mean when Samuel L's character describes it as simply an "evil fucking room" he's not kidding. What it threw at the main character and his reactions (usually badass or smartass or a combination) were very entertaining. If this'd been a gorefest with ten pansies who each get gutted all trapped in a room it would've been boring, it was very creepy without any slashing or gore. I also thought the ending was great- no huge revelations but it defenately wan't stupid or cheap.

It's got 77% on RT, and 7.7/10 on imdb, but personally I'd highly reccomend it.

guitaguar

I saw the movie too. It was not dissapointing and I'd definetly like to go see it again. I'm not too big on reviews but among other movies like Transformers, Ratatoullie, and Live Free or Die Hard, this movie should be included among there ranks. Go watch 1408.

Strange_One

Seriously. It was awesome.

Also some deeper stuff was in the movie that I forgot to include in my original post.

! You never know if Samuel's character was good or bad, wether his "well done" at the end was someone admitting defeat to a worthy advesary or someone who was genuinely concerned expressing his relief.

And the scene in the trailers with Samuel L being all "I TOLD YA!" is, oddly, no where in the movie (if it'd been in it probably would've changed things immensely). I don't think the thing with the hand is in there either.

GearSecond

Yeah I was trying to figure out the very end. Some things also weren't very clear. But overall it was entertaining. A good horror film compared to the trash most of Hollywood puts out. Blood and gore aren't scary, it's just too overused now. But guys that look like holograms jumping out of windows to their death? genius. absolute and pure genius.

Definitely something I could rewatch, and still find it entertaining. Still sucks that they showed the scariest scenes in the trailers and commercials. 2 tidbits that were in the ads but not the movie that disappeared was the one previously mentioned, and I remember another one explaining why he went looking for ghosts after his daughter died. Guess they felt that you realized the answer by the end, though.

Strange_One

Yeah, I forgot about trailers before I saw the movie (guess I saw too few for them to make an impact) but the window scene was probably the freakiest part of the movie, and that was spoiled in the trailers.

One odd thing, that 40's or 50's hologram-lady, they used her so many times compared to the guy. It was kinda funny, in a weird way ("hahaha, there she is again!").

Edit:

! And the stuff about his first book was never really explained. Was his father a dick? Was his father dead or in a home? We never really know, after two mentions it's almost like it was fogotton.

I read the wikipedia summary of the book, honestly the movie seems better.

GearSecond

I never got why they kept reusing the same lady. There was the guy that jumped out of the window right before her, and there were so many more people that had died in that room. I guess the writers didn't think they could top a guy who cut his neck open then used a sewing machine to try to put it back together, because most of the other deaths seem generic at first glance.

! One question I have is: Most of the deaths were natural, so how come when the room gave him choices to die, all of them were types of suicide? He could use whatever was in the room to kill himself, and the noose kept popping up, but I don't seem to recall any option to just have a heart attack.

Strange_One

! I dunno. But, I mean, the deaths in the room could manifest themselves however the room wanted it in reality- the noose would've been his bedsheets hanging, the guy with the chicken soup might've drowned himself in an ocean, and if the guy had jumped into the grave he might've had a heart attack.

GearSecond

What I find most interesting is how the room seems to learn.

! the more tricks that he tries to escape, the more clever the room seems to get. The closer he gets to escaping at one point, the smarter the room gets. Too bad it didn't see the fire coming.

Strange_One

It gets more evil, too.

! Maybe it did, and his faith saved him? Like that was the one escape and he figured it out?
! Everyone else took the quick route of death, he decided to take a slow, painful way, but to drag it down with him.
! And what was up with the "BURN ME ALIVE"?

taboo

@GearSecond:

What I find most interesting is how the room seems to learn.

! the more tricks that he tries to escape, the more clever the room seems to get. The closer he gets to escaping at one point, the smarter the room gets. Too bad it didn't see the fire coming.

I don't think so. With over 50 deaths, I'm sure all exits have been done before.

It was a good movie but it loses it's scare factor after you've seen it a few times.

GearSecond

It seems to learn the thought patterns of it's current "resident". And it certainly felt like it didn't know too much, but still understood just how to scare people. My guess is most people gave up and didn't try more than basic escapes. It eventually learned how to get inside his head, even taking away the reliability of his tape recorder, which I though twas a pretty cool scene.