I'm a-scared!

Movie #7, 1408

I read Carrie for the first time when I was about 12. I figured it was my duty. I liked it, and moved on to Misery. Soon I was reading 1000 page monsters, like IT and The Stand. In 8th grade, when I was finally getting over my horrible middle school introversion, I met a kindred spirit. Nick and I spent many a class passing notes back and forth about Stephen King. One of my strongest middle school memories involves Nick getting a little too chatty--when our German teacher called him disrespectful, he replied, "Oh my fucking God," which seemed like the absolute limit of disrespect. He was promptly removed from class and sent home for a couple days.

Anyway, 13 years later, Nick and I are still friends, even though he lives a half a world away. He's home for a month and a half, and when he suggested that we see a movie, 1408 seemed like the perfect choice.

Based on a short story by Stephen King, 1408 is about a cynical author who writes about haunted places. When he's warned not to go into one particular room in a New York hotel, he can't resist. John Cusack seems bored with his life and bored with acting, but that boredom kinda works here. He turns the juices on when it counts, and the movie is a lot scarier for it.

I don't usually see horror movies in the theater, because I don't like feeling that I can't get away. When I read scary books, or watch scary movies at home, I can always put the book down or hit pause and leave the room for awhile. When you're in a theater, there's nowhere to go and you can't make it stop. I would have liked to hit the old pause button a few times during this one.