Fans of Stephen King must be in hog heaven right about now, with at least three adaptations of some of his best work on the way to the big screen. Frank Darabont’s The Mist starts filming sometime in February, Eli Roth will move onto zombie chiller Cell after he finishes Hostel Part II, but first out of the blocks is an adaptation of haunted hotel short story, 1408 – and the trailer for the movie just went live.
John Cusack stars as a writer (King heroes are usually writers) who, after his young daughter dies, dedicates himself to investigating the paranormal in the hopes of re-establishing a connection with her. Years pass, to no avail… until he receives a mysterious postcard telling him not to enter room 1408 (note how the numbers add up to 13?) at the Dolphin Hotel in New York. So naturally, this being a movie that requires him to do exactly that, he flies off to the Big Apple where the hotel’s manager, Samuel L. Jackson, tells him that 56 people have died in that room, and that nobody has ever lasted more than an hour. Which begs all kinds of questions, but we’ll move on.
So far, so intriguing… and the rest of the trailer then gives us snapshots of what would appear to be an intriguing acting showcase for Cusack, as his Mike Enslin undergoes a series of supernatural experiences (or does he? Etc. etc.), including violent visions, a decided change in temperature, and a painting that COMES ALIVE!!! (Note: Fans of the short story, that appeared in King’s anthology, Everything’s Eventual, will know that many situations in the movie are completely original, otherwise the movie will be five minutes long; furthermore, expect Jackson’s Mr. Olin to play more of a role in proceedings…)
The overwhelming impression from this early peek would indicate that director Mikael Hafstrom, last seen derailing Derailed, but who has experience of horror movies in his native Sweden (Drowning Ghost), has a handle on some very neat ideas, but might not be able to avoid the temptation of using loud noises and objects leaping SUDDENLY into frame to scare the audience. We hope he’s more subtle in the finished product (this is a trailer, after all, and subtlety in a promo never puts bums on seats), but what it does leave us to look forward to, at any rate, is the juicy prospect of watching Cusack go slowly nuts, as the malevolent room turns the screw, oh so slowly.
Cusack’s long been one of Empire’s favourite actors, and this role would seem – along with the drama, Grace Is Gone – to be a concerted attempt to get away from his wisecracking, sarcasm-drenched persona, perfected in the likes of Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity. Of course, if you place any actor in a hotel created by Stephen King, you can immediately draw comparison with Jack Nicholson’ primo wacko turn in The Shining… let’s see if Cusack can hold his own in the finished 1408.
If you want to check out the trailer – and who wouldn’t? – then visit our chums at Yahoo! Movies.