1408

1408: Echoes of The Shining.

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(M) starring John Cusack, Samuel L Jackson. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom. 94 minutes. Playing now.

Given the current vogue for try-hard torture porn (the Saw and Hostel franchises), 1408's gore-light approach is appreciated. John Cusack plays Mike Enslin, a succesful writer of books exploring horror and the paranormal. His career is faltering a bit (there's an amusing reading at a commercial bookstore), so he's looking for a juicy yarn.

Word reaches him about the Dolphin Hotel in New York, where all manner of nasty things have happened in room 1408. It's so bad the Dolphin's refused to book the room for 10 years. Enslin heads to New York, where he hasn't been since his raw break-up with his wife after their daughter's death.

Samuel L Jackson's hotel manager, Gerald Olin, tries every trick to dissuade Enslin from checking in. He presents a fat, graphic scrapbook detailing all the goings on in 1408 and attempts to bribe Enslin with fine liquor. But with his publisher's assistance and legal help, Enslin's resolve is unshakeable. He settles in to the room with entertaining cynicism, mocking paintings on the wall as Whistler knock-offs depicting deranged children and constipated lords. But then he leans out the window, it slams shut on his hand, the radio blares and the horror's all on. The scenes where Enslin teeters along the ledge outside 1408 gave me the heebie-jeebies.

1408 is based on a Stephen King short story, and its family trauma has echoes of Kubrick's superb King adaption The Shining.

Swede director Mikael Hafstrom conveyed family dysfunction in the knock-out Evil and his initial helming here is solid crafting atmosphere. About two-thirds through, though, the conceit loses its thread a bit, and 1408 drifts towards no-man's land. Still it has its moments, like an exasperated Olin's final warning to Enslin: "It's an evil f–-in' room."

THE PITCH: Don't check in.

WATCH OUT FOR: Out on the ledge.

- © Fairfax NZ News