1408

Grade: B-

The Shining meets Groundhog Day in this disappointing adaptation of a Stephen King short story. John Cusack plays Mike, a horror writer who - like Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining - goes crazier than a shit house rat in a hotel, growing increasingly rattled and horrified as the clock radio sounds off a distorted version of The Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" (calling to mind Bill Murray's grudge match with "I've Got You Babe" in Groundhog Day). The first half hour of 1408 is really dull, and the last half hour runs a confusing and idiotic course. That said, that middle section has some genuinely creepy moments, some fun cheap scares and clever set designs that capture Mike's descent into madness as the hotel room's resident ghosts confront him with images of his dead daughter and suicidal specters beckon him to join them on their trips out the window.