After a relentless stream of gross-out horror flicks, critics were grateful for a bit of genuine psychological terror. John Cusack stars as the haunted hotel guest in 1408, an "enjoyable" yarn from director Mikael Hafstrom. It was no blockbuster, but Cusack's name did at least triple the budget in ticket sales.
Room For Improvement
The Director's Cut adds about three minutes to the running time, but is otherwise difficult to distinguish from the theatrical version. Even Hafstrom himself sounds a bit dubious in his commentary, presenting it as his "so-called Director's Cut". However, in a separate menu of deleted scenes he explains just how exhaustive the editing process was. He re-ordered pieces of action, such as Mike (Cusack) being thrown about the room by invisible forces, to try and inject more fear. But he adds that a sequence towards the end, involving Samuel L Jackson, was just "confusing".
Writing partners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski offer some interesting notes on other scenes that didn't make the cut. Apparently the initial draft (by Matt Greenberg) was too focused on rolling out the scares one after the other. After some conversations with a certain Mr Weinstein, Alexander and Karaszewski took a more measured approach, "building a pact with audience" rather than catching them unawares with black cats leaping out of dark corners etc.
Unlocking The Secrets
In one of two webisodes Cusack gives credit to Stephen King who wrote the short story ("a metaphysical mindbender") on which the film is based. He also explains his role, but it's the titular room that's billed as the star of the show in a featurette on characters. Inside Room 1408 offers a glimpse of how it came to life with freak snow storms, fireballs and floods while a more detailed look at practical effects throws the spotlight on the British crew at Pinewood Studios. They built the stage on tilting hydraulics before dunking it in a giant water tank. In snippets of b-roll, Cusack laps it up like a dolphin at Sea World.
Production design also gets a look-in. The set dressers explain the problem of trying to make the room look unremarkable and yet strangely spooky at the same time. According to King's description, "evil is banal", which explains all the beige. But the challenge for Hafstrom was finding enough angles to keep the room interesting for the duration of Mike's stay. Note the second door in the bathroom; completely redundant except that it allowed the director to keep the camera moving in a loop around the room.
It's a small but tidy set of extras overall. For fans of supernatural horror who may have missed the film in cinemas, it's worth looking into.
EXTRA FEATURES
1408: The Director's Cut DVD is released on Wednesday 26th December 2007.
