After Cusack checks into the room, during the last hour of the film or so, 1408 almost becomes a one-man play. Cusack carried the whole load of the movie on his shoulders and totally walked through it like he was out for a Sunday stroll. Cusack nailed every emotion, his own as well as the ones he was trying to elicit from the audience. He played me like a harp, and I’ve seen enough horror films and read enough Stephen King to stay one step ahead. And I did, but the movie kept me constantly on the move to earn my one step.

The special effects are awesome, but they only work so well because of Cusack’s performance and the pacing by the director, Mikael Hafstrom. If the human element and the timing hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have mattered how good the special effects were. Audiences believe in character and atmosphere before they believe in cinematics.

As it turned out, because of the holidays, I ended up watching the movie one night, then again the next. It held me captivated both nights, just watching Cusack go through his paces again as I picked up small nuances of the visual cues that I’d missed or neglected to pay as much attention to because I was pumping adrenaline the first time.

The only thing I can fault the movie for was not explaining why Room 1408 was haunted. There’s enough of a history there that I bought into the overall story, but usually movies and tales like these always nail down the “origin” story as well. This one didn’t and I was irritated enough to mention it. Still, no matter what explanation had been provided, I might have discounted the threat if I’d known what the horror was actually caused by.

If you’re a horror fan, there’s a lot to like about 1408. And if you want to sit down with the older kids on family night for a little chill and shiver, this movie is definitely one you can do that with because there’s no obscenely bad language and the death scenes didn’t push it past a PG-13 rating. Good, scary fun.