Title: 1408
Written by: Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flint, Ed Wood)
Based on a short story by Steven King
Submitted by: The Weinstein Company
Read by: Chen-Yung Hsu, Little Magic
Genre: Horror
Location and Period: Florida, New York City; Present Day
Recommendation: *** [CONSIDER]
Date: 1/31/06
Elements: Dir: Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed, Evil, The Drowning Ghost)
Cast: TBC
Logline:
A horror writer skeptical of all things supernatural stays in a hotel suite famous for the grisly deaths of its occupants, none of which survived longer than one hour. Trapped in this evil room, he must confront a variety of ghosts and demons in a desperate struggle to maintain his sanity.
Brief:
Tense, moody and atmospheric, with elements of humor, grotesque horror with the refreshing added dimension of real human drama surrounding the main character. The director is fitting for the moody material, although it is difficult to assess how he will handle it as he is still largely unknown. If he can prove himself, this has the potential to be something similar to The Shining with A-list casting attached.
Synopsis:
PRESENT DAY; RURAL AMERICA: MIKE ENSLIN (35), a grizzled and tired horror writer is driving down a desolate highway in a rundown sedan to an inn in the middle of nowhere. His job is to debunk ghost stories by staying in the hotel rooms ghosts supposedly reside in. His latest stop is a quaint rural inn that is both pretty and slightly creepy. As he arrives at the inn, Mike wearily tries to check in as MR. AND MRS. INNKEEPER (elderly) try to entice him with the history of the place. Later, Mike is lying in the bed of the ‘haunted’ room, bored out of his mind and already having drunk quite a bit of alcohol. The room is neither scary nor haunted. The next day, Mike is back in his car, recording observations about the previous night’s lack of action on a tape recorder.
Mike goes to a bookstore in town for a book signing. The event turns out to be a sad affair with only a handful of attendants having shown up to hear the grizzled author speak. Mike explains that “ghosts” are a mere ploy for out of the way inns to draw customers. The sparse crowd, however, refuses to believe what he is saying and incessantly try to ask him questions about ghosts. Later, Mike is absently signing books when a nervous woman comes up holding a beaten up old novel that he wrote years ago. She praises the book and asks him if he will write any more literature. Mike tells her that he no longer writes novels, only the trashy ghost books he’s known for today. From his sad, dejected face, we sense how much he longs to return to working on something worthy and reputable, and how much surfing once meant to him. On a nearby beach, Mike decides to go surfing for the first time in ages. As he rides the waves, exhilarated and free from his usual gloominess, he hears a buzzing sound. He looks up to see a small airplane towing a banner. As he tries to make out what is displayed on the banner, a monstrous wave knocks him down. He nearly drowns but eventually gets washed to shore.
Mike goes through his mail mostly of brochures from motels, which claim to be haunted, beckoning him to visit them for the publicity. A postcard with a photomontage of a rich, archaic hotel called the Dolphin, located in New York City, catches his eye. The message on the back, stating he should not enter Room 1408, piques his interest. He researches the hotel and learns that a multitude of deaths have occurred there. From the looks of it, this place has seen a number of blood baths in its time. Mike attempts to book the room but the hotel staff mysteriously rebuffs him and hangs up. Mike enlists the help of his agent SAM who manages to get the room for him. Out of concern, Sam reminds Mike that LILY, a woman from Mike’s past, is in NY. However, Mike assures Sam that he will only be there a short time and will not contact her.
Mike arrives in New York and goes quickly to the hotel, which has an archaic luxuriousness speaks to the grandeur of an age long past. The manager OLIN (60) tries to dissuade Mike from staying in Room 1408 by bribing Mike with a bottle of expensive cognac and showing him a file about all the deaths that have occurred in there. None of the occupants survived longer than an hour. Mike dismisses these complaints as nonsense. Olin accompanies Mike only as far as the elevator entrance, tossing the bottle of cognac to him and wishing him luck. When Mike finally locates Room 1408, he sees a crying woman holding a child run into the next room. Now a bit spooked, before entering Room 1408 he tape records his will, leaving everything to his ex-wife, Lily. Mike slowly turns the knob and the wooden door swings open to reveal – a normal two-room suite.
Later, while looking around the room, Mike swigs Olin’s cognac and narrates into his recorder his observations about the room. The alarm clock suddenly goes off, playing the Carpenter’s song, “We’ve Only Just Begun”. After he shuts it off, Mike turns and is shocked to find that his bed has been made and chocolates are on his pillow. As he chews on one of the chocolates, he tries to logically figure out how someone could have gotten in and out without him knowing. He searches the suite and finding the air vent, he concludes it is the only place anyone could come and go unseen. The room has become very hot so he calls up room service to have someone fix the thermostat. He then proceeds to scan the room with a UV black light and is very disturbed to find many old stains – are they blood? When the engineer arrives to fix the thermostat, Mike is stunned to find the door will not open. Finally, he manages to wrench the door open but the engineer refuses to step inside, opting instead to teach Mike how to fix the thermostat by calling out instructions from the doorway. After the engineer leaves, the alarm clock starts an eerie countdown from 60 minutes. The ticking is the only sound Mike can hear. Confused, Mike opens the window to look at the street below, but the sounds from the street are mysteriously muted, as if he’s in a vacuum. Suddenly, the window slams down on his hand, breaking his fingers. The radio goes off again, but Mike finds that even after he’s yanked out the plug, the countdown on the clock continues.
Unable to get out of the room, Mike tries phoning for the front desk, but gets disconnected. When he tries the door, the key mysteriously disappears inside the lock and the knob breaks off in his hand. The TV suddenly comes on and plays a scene of him in the past with his ex-wife, Lily (30) and healthy daughter GRACIE (5). Suddenly, ghosts appear and re-enact their deaths in front of Mike. Horrific screams emanate from the room’s wall. Just as suddenly, however, the room falls deathly silent. The hotel bathroom is transformed into a sterile, fluorescent nursing home bathroom. Inside, Mike’s angry invalid father appears. Confused and guilt ridden, Mike throws his arms around his father, but suddenly finds the room has reverted back to its original state and he is hugging the toilet.
Mike attempts to escape to the room next door through its window, using the ledge outside. However, the entire building has turned into one continuous surface of brick except for the window leading into Room 1408. As soon as Mike is back inside the room, the window suddenly transforms into a wall of bricks. Suddenly, another image from the past comes back to haunt Mike: he and Lily crying into each other’s arms over Gracie’s dangerous illness. The terrifying, rasping, non-human VOICE OF THE ROOM taunts Mike. Desperate, Mike pulls out his laptop and tries to instant message Lily, pleading for help. Mike climbs through the vent and escapes through it. He looks through the grate at the adjacent room below, where he sees a terrifying, heartbreaking vision of Lily cradling Gracie as a baby. He then sees a horrific vision of his father pleading with Mike not to leave Lily after the death of their child. A ghost of one of the room’s previous victims chases Mike through the dizzying, black maze of the vents, its horrific screams piercing the still air. Suddenly, the vent implodes, forcing Mike to crawl down the only route the room will allow: back to Room1408.
The room hurls accusations towards Mike about the cowardice he displayed in deserting his family. Memories of his tragic decision torture Mike as the room continues to reprimand him. On the computer, Lily messengers Mike, telling him that she is coming over to the hotel to look for him. This sends the room into a hyperbolic rage. Mike finds his feet immersed in a sludgy muck which quickly fills the room. Soon, seawater is gushing all around him as he’s thrown like a rag doll amidst the torrent. As he’s plunged all the way under…he wakes to find himself washed ashore back on the beach he was surfing on in the beginning. Room 1408 was just a nightmare. He understands that he must reconcile with his wife, reconnect with his father, and get back to his roots as a writer.
He writes a book about his nightmare in ‘1408’ and begins to move on with his life. When he’s at the post office ready to send out the manuscript of the book, he finds Olin waiting for him. Suddenly, he realizes the nightmare was real! In a blinding instant, Mike finds himself back in Room 1408 where the voice of the room goads Mike, telling him there is life after death. Mike collapses in terror, preparing himself for whatever is coming. The alarm clock shows the hour has ended. The room tells Mike he can relive the nightmare or take his own life. Mike vehemently decides to live. The TV turns on showing that Lily has come to the hotel to find Mike, and that she is walking down the hallway towards Room 1408! Mike screams with all his might for her to turn back, his face arched with a crazed, desperate love. Suddenly, Lily stops walking, like she heard him. Quickly, she turns around and leaves. In that instant, Mike realizes that he was a deeply selfish man in his past, and that he now must face the consequences. He lights the room on fire with matches and the cognac he received from Olin. The flames swirl violently, immolating him in a cloud of destruction. The room and the hotel burn to the ground, destroying all the demons that haunted such a place.
Comments: This has a great degree of tension, offering many thrills, chills, and frightening moments for its audience. It’s a sophisticated, moody, atmospheric supernatural thriller with elements of humor, grotesque horror and decent dialogue.
Quite refreshingly, there is an added dimension of real human drama surrounding the main character. His inner struggles become his external nightmare as he wrestles with a past that has come back to haunt him. The drama is surreal at times, with some strong visuals and intriguing suspense. For such a complex narrative, it is possible that some audiences may not grasp what is happening, however, for the most part it is well written and smartly structured to avoid confusion.
The director is fitting for the moody material, although it is difficult to assess how he will handle it as he is still largely unknown. If he can prove himself, this has the potential to be something similar to The Shining with A-list casting attached.
Premise: FAIR
Storyline: GOOD
Characterizations: GOOD
Dialogue: FAIR
Plot/Structure: GOOD
Written by: Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flint, Ed Wood)
Based on a short story by Steven King
Submitted by: The Weinstein Company
Read by: Chen-Yung Hsu, Little Magic
Genre: Horror
Location and Period: Florida, New York City; Present Day
Recommendation: *** [CONSIDER]
Date: 1/31/06
Elements: Dir: Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed, Evil, The Drowning Ghost)
Cast: TBC
Logline:
A horror writer skeptical of all things supernatural stays in a hotel suite famous for the grisly deaths of its occupants, none of which survived longer than one hour. Trapped in this evil room, he must confront a variety of ghosts and demons in a desperate struggle to maintain his sanity.
Brief:
Tense, moody and atmospheric, with elements of humor, grotesque horror with the refreshing added dimension of real human drama surrounding the main character. The director is fitting for the moody material, although it is difficult to assess how he will handle it as he is still largely unknown. If he can prove himself, this has the potential to be something similar to The Shining with A-list casting attached.
Synopsis:
PRESENT DAY; RURAL AMERICA: MIKE ENSLIN (35), a grizzled and tired horror writer is driving down a desolate highway in a rundown sedan to an inn in the middle of nowhere. His job is to debunk ghost stories by staying in the hotel rooms ghosts supposedly reside in. His latest stop is a quaint rural inn that is both pretty and slightly creepy. As he arrives at the inn, Mike wearily tries to check in as MR. AND MRS. INNKEEPER (elderly) try to entice him with the history of the place. Later, Mike is lying in the bed of the ‘haunted’ room, bored out of his mind and already having drunk quite a bit of alcohol. The room is neither scary nor haunted. The next day, Mike is back in his car, recording observations about the previous night’s lack of action on a tape recorder.
Mike goes to a bookstore in town for a book signing. The event turns out to be a sad affair with only a handful of attendants having shown up to hear the grizzled author speak. Mike explains that “ghosts” are a mere ploy for out of the way inns to draw customers. The sparse crowd, however, refuses to believe what he is saying and incessantly try to ask him questions about ghosts. Later, Mike is absently signing books when a nervous woman comes up holding a beaten up old novel that he wrote years ago. She praises the book and asks him if he will write any more literature. Mike tells her that he no longer writes novels, only the trashy ghost books he’s known for today. From his sad, dejected face, we sense how much he longs to return to working on something worthy and reputable, and how much surfing once meant to him. On a nearby beach, Mike decides to go surfing for the first time in ages. As he rides the waves, exhilarated and free from his usual gloominess, he hears a buzzing sound. He looks up to see a small airplane towing a banner. As he tries to make out what is displayed on the banner, a monstrous wave knocks him down. He nearly drowns but eventually gets washed to shore.
Mike goes through his mail mostly of brochures from motels, which claim to be haunted, beckoning him to visit them for the publicity. A postcard with a photomontage of a rich, archaic hotel called the Dolphin, located in New York City, catches his eye. The message on the back, stating he should not enter Room 1408, piques his interest. He researches the hotel and learns that a multitude of deaths have occurred there. From the looks of it, this place has seen a number of blood baths in its time. Mike attempts to book the room but the hotel staff mysteriously rebuffs him and hangs up. Mike enlists the help of his agent SAM who manages to get the room for him. Out of concern, Sam reminds Mike that LILY, a woman from Mike’s past, is in NY. However, Mike assures Sam that he will only be there a short time and will not contact her.
Mike arrives in New York and goes quickly to the hotel, which has an archaic luxuriousness speaks to the grandeur of an age long past. The manager OLIN (60) tries to dissuade Mike from staying in Room 1408 by bribing Mike with a bottle of expensive cognac and showing him a file about all the deaths that have occurred in there. None of the occupants survived longer than an hour. Mike dismisses these complaints as nonsense. Olin accompanies Mike only as far as the elevator entrance, tossing the bottle of cognac to him and wishing him luck. When Mike finally locates Room 1408, he sees a crying woman holding a child run into the next room. Now a bit spooked, before entering Room 1408 he tape records his will, leaving everything to his ex-wife, Lily. Mike slowly turns the knob and the wooden door swings open to reveal – a normal two-room suite.
Later, while looking around the room, Mike swigs Olin’s cognac and narrates into his recorder his observations about the room. The alarm clock suddenly goes off, playing the Carpenter’s song, “We’ve Only Just Begun”. After he shuts it off, Mike turns and is shocked to find that his bed has been made and chocolates are on his pillow. As he chews on one of the chocolates, he tries to logically figure out how someone could have gotten in and out without him knowing. He searches the suite and finding the air vent, he concludes it is the only place anyone could come and go unseen. The room has become very hot so he calls up room service to have someone fix the thermostat. He then proceeds to scan the room with a UV black light and is very disturbed to find many old stains – are they blood? When the engineer arrives to fix the thermostat, Mike is stunned to find the door will not open. Finally, he manages to wrench the door open but the engineer refuses to step inside, opting instead to teach Mike how to fix the thermostat by calling out instructions from the doorway. After the engineer leaves, the alarm clock starts an eerie countdown from 60 minutes. The ticking is the only sound Mike can hear. Confused, Mike opens the window to look at the street below, but the sounds from the street are mysteriously muted, as if he’s in a vacuum. Suddenly, the window slams down on his hand, breaking his fingers. The radio goes off again, but Mike finds that even after he’s yanked out the plug, the countdown on the clock continues.
Unable to get out of the room, Mike tries phoning for the front desk, but gets disconnected. When he tries the door, the key mysteriously disappears inside the lock and the knob breaks off in his hand. The TV suddenly comes on and plays a scene of him in the past with his ex-wife, Lily (30) and healthy daughter GRACIE (5). Suddenly, ghosts appear and re-enact their deaths in front of Mike. Horrific screams emanate from the room’s wall. Just as suddenly, however, the room falls deathly silent. The hotel bathroom is transformed into a sterile, fluorescent nursing home bathroom. Inside, Mike’s angry invalid father appears. Confused and guilt ridden, Mike throws his arms around his father, but suddenly finds the room has reverted back to its original state and he is hugging the toilet.
Mike attempts to escape to the room next door through its window, using the ledge outside. However, the entire building has turned into one continuous surface of brick except for the window leading into Room 1408. As soon as Mike is back inside the room, the window suddenly transforms into a wall of bricks. Suddenly, another image from the past comes back to haunt Mike: he and Lily crying into each other’s arms over Gracie’s dangerous illness. The terrifying, rasping, non-human VOICE OF THE ROOM taunts Mike. Desperate, Mike pulls out his laptop and tries to instant message Lily, pleading for help. Mike climbs through the vent and escapes through it. He looks through the grate at the adjacent room below, where he sees a terrifying, heartbreaking vision of Lily cradling Gracie as a baby. He then sees a horrific vision of his father pleading with Mike not to leave Lily after the death of their child. A ghost of one of the room’s previous victims chases Mike through the dizzying, black maze of the vents, its horrific screams piercing the still air. Suddenly, the vent implodes, forcing Mike to crawl down the only route the room will allow: back to Room1408.
The room hurls accusations towards Mike about the cowardice he displayed in deserting his family. Memories of his tragic decision torture Mike as the room continues to reprimand him. On the computer, Lily messengers Mike, telling him that she is coming over to the hotel to look for him. This sends the room into a hyperbolic rage. Mike finds his feet immersed in a sludgy muck which quickly fills the room. Soon, seawater is gushing all around him as he’s thrown like a rag doll amidst the torrent. As he’s plunged all the way under…he wakes to find himself washed ashore back on the beach he was surfing on in the beginning. Room 1408 was just a nightmare. He understands that he must reconcile with his wife, reconnect with his father, and get back to his roots as a writer.
He writes a book about his nightmare in ‘1408’ and begins to move on with his life. When he’s at the post office ready to send out the manuscript of the book, he finds Olin waiting for him. Suddenly, he realizes the nightmare was real! In a blinding instant, Mike finds himself back in Room 1408 where the voice of the room goads Mike, telling him there is life after death. Mike collapses in terror, preparing himself for whatever is coming. The alarm clock shows the hour has ended. The room tells Mike he can relive the nightmare or take his own life. Mike vehemently decides to live. The TV turns on showing that Lily has come to the hotel to find Mike, and that she is walking down the hallway towards Room 1408! Mike screams with all his might for her to turn back, his face arched with a crazed, desperate love. Suddenly, Lily stops walking, like she heard him. Quickly, she turns around and leaves. In that instant, Mike realizes that he was a deeply selfish man in his past, and that he now must face the consequences. He lights the room on fire with matches and the cognac he received from Olin. The flames swirl violently, immolating him in a cloud of destruction. The room and the hotel burn to the ground, destroying all the demons that haunted such a place.
Comments: This has a great degree of tension, offering many thrills, chills, and frightening moments for its audience. It’s a sophisticated, moody, atmospheric supernatural thriller with elements of humor, grotesque horror and decent dialogue.
Quite refreshingly, there is an added dimension of real human drama surrounding the main character. His inner struggles become his external nightmare as he wrestles with a past that has come back to haunt him. The drama is surreal at times, with some strong visuals and intriguing suspense. For such a complex narrative, it is possible that some audiences may not grasp what is happening, however, for the most part it is well written and smartly structured to avoid confusion.
The director is fitting for the moody material, although it is difficult to assess how he will handle it as he is still largely unknown. If he can prove himself, this has the potential to be something similar to The Shining with A-list casting attached.
Premise: FAIR
Storyline: GOOD
Characterizations: GOOD
Dialogue: FAIR
Plot/Structure: GOOD