Of all the novels and short stories of Stephen King which have been adapted for the big screen over the years, 1408 It remains one of the most underestimated, with impeccable performance by Hollywood Staples John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Released in June 2007, the version of Mikael Håfström of psychological horror rendered the cinemas a few months before the adaptation of Frank Darabont The mist. The two King stories share supernatural elements that leave readers (and viewers) in simultaneous states of fear and disbelief, and have also performed well at the box office: 1408 reported $ 133 million compared to a budget of $ 25 million, while The mist gRossed $ 57.3 million compared to its $ 18 million budget.

With Stephen King one of the most efficient authors of all time, it is not surprising that, when it comes to adapting his famous works, many obstacles are regularly on the way to pre-production to the final liberation. What makes King history typical difficult to transfer paper to the big screen? While his wide range of works varies in the plot, King’s stories (long or short) are built with deeply developed characters and specific parameters that feed the global atmosphere; In a battle between the detailed characterizations compared to the detailed plot, the characterizations almost always gain. Many King novels are also written in the first person, and with psychological horrors, interior thoughts can be notoriously difficult to translate. Despite the big project before him, Håfström has delivered a great interpretation of 1408 18 years ago, with Jackson as a particularly impressive casting choice.

1408 is one of Stephen King’s best news

Stephen King’s horror story was published for the first time in 1999

Master of his job with endless ideas, Stephen King wrote more than 200 news throughout his prolific career. Although a handful has been adapted to cinema and television, many of these works have been published individually or in a larger collection. In 1999, “1408” was published for the first time as part of a collection of audio books called Blood and smoke; Before the psychological horror became an idea in its own right, King predicted to the origin of using a short section as annex to his non-fiction book of 2000, Writing.

Blood and smoke was a successful audio book (in which King read three short stories in total), and in 2002, “1408” was released for the first time on paper. He was released in the collection of stories EVery possibleComposed of 11 short stories and three novels (including “The Little Sisters of Eluria”, which is part of King’s The Tower of Death series).

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Located at Fictional Dolphin Hotel in New York, the protagonist of 1408 is Mike Enslin, a non-fiction writer who, although skeptical himself, covers the supernatural and the paranormal. In King’s original story, Enslin goes to the Dolphin hotel in a deliberate attempt to survive a stay in room 1408; In the cinematographic adaptation, Enslin is mysteriously invited to check the play. Whatever

Fans of paranormal and psychological thrillers must read 1408 And then look at the 2007 cinematographic adaptation of Håfström, because the scary tale does not look like any other in the genre. As always, King’s short story does a fantastic job to build suspense and tension from the start. Likewise, the Enslin background frame is not easily introduced, but rather explored slowly, increasing the stakes at an excellent pace. In the versions of the book and the film, another fascinating element of history is the ambiguous end of the tale, which allows the reader (or viewers, depending on the support consumed) to draw their own conclusions. While the representation of the protagonist by Cusack is that to which it is the performance of Jackson as Gerald Olin which subtly increases the bar.

Samuel L. Jackson’s excellent performance in 1408

Hotel director Gerald Olin knows room 1408 is dangerous

Gerald Olin plays a specific role in 1408 as the main counterpart of Enslin (apart from the play itself). The history of Olin are not explored in detail, with the most pronounced fact about the man that he is the long -standing director of the Dolphin hotel. Throughout his mandate as a manager, Olin saw a lot about room 1408, and when Enslin tries to reserve the room, Olin does his best to persuade him differently. By confirming that at least 56 deaths occurred in room 1408 to an unsuccessful attempt to bring Enslin, Olin finally concedes to allow Enslin to reserve the room, but indicates too clearly that he wants to do something other than.

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While Olin is a support character, Jackson is an out -of -competition figure in the adaptation of Stephen King due to passion and determination behind his character. Although he does not know Enslin and having no obligation to prevent the paranormal author from entering the room, the innate heat and the prudence of Olin provide a good leaf to the objective of Enslin. Furthermore, It is the representation of Jackson d’Olin, and not the performance of Cusack as a year, who opens the way to 1408. While the first person Enslin meets at the Dolphin hotel, Olin completely puts the dark story on the table in a firm and serious way, while simultaneously expressing his own fear not only of room 1408, but for the safety of Enslin.

In the short time that they are presented together on the screen, Cusack and Jackson play well with each other with palpable chemistry. With a well -written dialogue and an air of suspense through cinematography and musical composition, the conversation between Enslin and Olin before Enslin enters in room 1408 is a perfect moment of rising action in the film: before the character of Cusack gets closer to the play, the dialogue of Olin, the facial expressions and the posture tell the public everything they need to know.

Although Olin is mainly used to facilitate the imminent action between Enslin and the room, the character of Jackson makes a brief appearance at the end, providing a small conclusion to the director of the unexpected hotel.

1408 has four different ends

The final scene of Mikael Håfström Reshot 1408 based on the test audience

The film is solid from start to finish, but the last moments of adaptation of King’s psychological horror differ depending on the version. In all, 1408 To four different purposes. In the officially published version (And the one who was initially released in theaters and on DVD), Enslin survives his experience in room 1408 and finds his wife, Lily (Mary McCormack). She does not believe what Enslin experienced in the dolphin death hotel room until he repaired the tape recorder he has brought and the pressures play. When the couple hears the voice of their daughter Katie (Jasmine Jessica Anthony) through the tape recorder, Lily recognizes Enslin’s experience. In a slightly alternative version, Enslin and Lily listen to the contents of the tape recorder, but instead of Lily recognizing Katie’s voice, the camera remains on Enslin’s face and its reaction.

Based on the reaction of the public of initial test to the film during projections, Håfström changed the end of 1408 And released the revised film as a director. In the first major alternative end which was considered the real original end, Enslin died in room 1408 like all the past victims of the Dolphin hotel. Olin has a more important role in the original version of 1408As he meets the publisher of Lily and Enslin, Sam Farrell (Tony Shalhoub), during the funeral of Enslin. Olin claims that no one else will be injured by room 1408 due to Enslin’s actions, then will return to his car to listen to the audio on the Enslin tape. After seeing several hallucinations, the last shot of 1408 Go to Enslin as he joins Katie. The test audience was not satisfied with the original end of Håfström because they did not feel satisfied with the death of Enslin.

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The final end Also includes Enslin’s death of his experience in room 1408, but the remaining scenes take place differently. Instead of Enslin funerals are an objective (including Olin’s conversation with Lily and Farrell), Enslin funeral sounds are rather questioned about Los Angeles aerial photos. Upon his return to his office, Enslin’s publisher of books finds the text that then had written in room 1408, and the manuscript is read on the interjections of Enslin and the voices of his father. Whether the Enslin dies in the fire he installs in room 1408 or not, it remains clear that the film adaptation of the short story of horror of Stephen King remains an underestimated effort of the distribution and the crew.

Since King’s works are not the easiest to adapt, the psychological thriller, in the end, ends its mission: the tension is pleasant to taste, the actors offer strong performance and that the public remains, as with viewers who read the short history, feeling uncomfortable with what they have testified. Cusack’s Enslin Porte 1408But it is difficult to imagine someone other than Jackson representing the director of the Gerald Olin hotel.

1408

Release date

June 22, 2007

Execution time

112 minutes

Director

Mikael Håfström

Writers

Matt Greenberg, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander

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  Samuel L. Jackson

  Gerald I was