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"But hotel rooms are just naturally creepy places don't you think? I mean, how many people have slept in that bed before you? How many of them were sick? How many were losing their minds?"
Stephen King "1408"

Mention the phrase "Stephen King and movies" and you'll get responses ranging from great ("Shawshank Redemption," "Carrie," "The Shining") to middling ("Christine," "Cujo") to bad ("Maximum Overdrive"). But in the new film "1408," the filmmakers were wise to stay true to the spirit of King's short story (taken from his collection called "Everything's Eventual"), and gave us the thrills and chills we've all come to expect from the contemporary master of horror.

John Cusack stars as Mike Enslin, a writer who goes around the world investigating and debunking haunted phenomenon. But his latest project called "Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms" will finally make him believe.

One day, Enslin mysteriously receives a postcard from New York's Dolphin Hotel that says, "Don't check in to room 1408." Of course, our hero sees it as an invitation another hotel myth to bust.

Defying the warnings of hotel manager, Gerald Olin (the always delightful Samuel Jackson), the author is the first person in years to stay in the reputedly haunted room. But like many Stephen King heroes, Enslin must evolve from skeptic to true believer, fighting his own demons in order to survive.

Directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom, "1408" is amazing! It's the scariest ride of the summer. Hafstrom and writers Matt Greenberg, Scott Alexander, and Larry Karaszewski are smart enough to create an unpretentious film. "1408" knows its audience and delivers the scary goods!

Once our hero enters the room, we know we're entering the twisted kingdom of Stephen King. We can see all of King's tropes in the film; such as the main character is a writer, he just quit smoking yet has that one last cigarette to light up once the novel is finished (just like the writer played by James Caan in "Misery") and the main character is having marital problems.

Playing Enslin's wife is Mary McCormack and we find out that their marriage started going down the tubes when their daughter, Katie (Jasmine Jessica Anthony), passed away from leukemia. And of course, Katie shows up in the room to scare daddy.

Katie is not the only one in the room to haunt Enslin. 56 deaths occurred in room 1408 and our hero meets the room's unfortunate victims. The special effects used to create these apparitions are creepy. But mostly, the creep

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