1408

Based on a Stephen King novel by the same name, 1408 is about a haunted room in a hotel in New York where no one survives beyond an hour. Till this author who has set out to debunk paranormal/supernatural occurrences since the death of his young daughter, decides to see it for himself.

Genuine horror awaits Mike (Cusack) in the room, including visions of his own daughter. He believes they didn’t do enough to save her other than comforting her with talk of God and a better place, and here he can hear her calling out for him asking for help. Mike, who doesn’t believe in Heaven or Hell, is confronted with visions of both in that room.

The story also plays on the basic menace of a hotel room, which can be both comforting and discomforting in its all-emcompassing anonymity.

Cusack, who is an expert in these strange-everyman roles, makes it all convincing. Disappointingly, Jackson as hotel manager appears in just two brief scenes.

Still, as a movie confined to just one room, 1408 has enough horrors to live up to the Stephen King reputation.