My Brother Was Eaten By Wolves On the Conneticut Turnpike

[said_scarlett]

Hmm, the recent 'zomg incest is bad stop writing it you are all sick and need help!' rant at fanficrants just makes me want to write Failtastic Foursome fic.

ANYWAY!

I watched 'Room 1408' last night. This is my non-spoilery review.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I've read the short story it's based on, and it's one of my favorites. Also one of, in my opinion, King's scariest pieces. From the advertisements, it didn't look as though the movie stuck very close to the story at all.

The advertisements were misleading.

Despite a great deal of things being added to the story, nothing was taken away. Everything that happened in the story in that room happened in the movie. From the paintings to the phone calls to the radio. And everything that was added flowed very, very nicely. Despite the main character - Mike Enslin - having a backstory, it fit. It was still all very Stephen King-esque.

There were also very Silent Hill elements to it. While in the story, the room was simply an evil room that made bad things happen, in the movie it drew on the character's repressed guilt and manifested them as tangible horrors. Even the visual scenes near the end seemed very Silent Hill inspired.

Speaking of visuals, it was a beautifully filmed movie. The effects were unique and very, very striking. I'm a whore for well done cinematography, and this film did not disappoint. The music was the classic quirky Stephen King kind, and went very well. John Cusack was amazing, as always, and looking very fit and healthy these days! He handled the humor perfectly.

On a frightening scale, I'm not sure where to list this. It was psychologically pretty terrifying, I think. There is a creeping horror, enhanced only by the artful suspense Stephen King is known for. Only one scene made me jump, but it made me jump.

The only problem I had was the ending - which I've learned is the director's cut. It does not follow the story, and is not the ending originally aired and released in theaters. The original ending stuck remarkably close to the ending of the story. The director's cut...didn't. And I'll be honest, I wasn't too happy with it. The only thing they have in common is the melted tape recorder.

In short, this is a movie I would like to own and would watch repeatedly. I definitely recommend it for fans of psychological horror and fans of Stephen King's work.

Comments

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it! I was pleased with it, as well. Usually when it comes to SK adaptations ... not so much. But, then again, that's mostly with his novel adaptations, where they have to take so much out because of time restraints.

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

I am so, so nervous of Stephen King Adaptations. I'm more comfortable with mini-series, since they tend to be able to fit in more - I adore The Stand, and was pretty pleased with the recent version of The Shining - and swait for The Mist.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree the mini-series tend to be better. I've got The Stand on DVD because I love it so much. ♥

I'm kind of nervous about The Mist, though. I've only seen one or two TV spots but it looked like The Fog meets Storm of the Century. I'm a little worried about it feeling like a recycled story.

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

Oh man, The Stand. One of my favorites. And not just because I am madly in love with Laura San Giocomo. :D

I saw the big preview, and it seems to be sticking remarkably close to the original story. I'm pretty hopeful, as every scene I saw in the preview was actually in the story, and I could identify it immediately. So I've got my fingers crossed that it won't fall prey to that.

[ex-talia-sp.livejournal.com]

I really think watching this when we were up in Jerome would have been awesomely fitting, but oh well. I want to see this, not only because I like Stephen King, but because I also love John Cusack.

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

That actually maybe would have been a tad too much for me. Just because the room in the movie had kind of similar decor to our hotel room. I'll admit, even in my own private bedroom, I had a little trouble getting to bed.

Yeah, John Cusack was awesome in this.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

You know, I've never disliked John Cusack but I've also never really been a fan. I always thought of him as a kinda cute guy who managed to get himself cast in a few good movies. But he was really fantastic in 1408. Thumbs way up.

[speaky-bean.livejournal.com]

Aw! I almost watched this movie, but decided not to at the last minute because I had this random inspiration for a scene in my Nano...and almost no one else in the house was watching either, so. I kind of wish I had now, it sounds fabulous.

And yes, someone telling you something is disgusting is sometimes a good reason to write it. XD; At a Halloween party I was at recently, we wound up doing this stupid pairing ladder game thing, which aside from pairing me with emo Spiderman and my sister with a broom, also paired Light and Sachiko. Which made us all rather disgusted, but kind of made me want to write fic of it, somehow. I have no idea how it could possibly happen, but my brain is working on it. XD;

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

It really is a damn good movie. :D

Yeah, I'm horribly contrary that way. Hence why I wrote a porn fic a day for an entire month once, just because LJ was trying to come down hard on pron. :D

[aqua-karen.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I've always felt that incest was something best kept in the family.


.... yeah, I... I just came in to make a lame vague joke. I'll be leaving now. (Actually, for some reason the only pairings I like in Avatar:TLA are all incest. I wonder if that says something about the series or about me.)

[sabishii-omoide.livejournal.com]

Wow. There's actually a comm for ranting about fics. That makes me almost want to rant or cry. Not sure. :P Nah. It's nice to have a place, I guess. Though it's odd how the ranty places seem to stay alive much longer than other types of communities.

But there actually was an interesting one that I've often had on my mind slightly near the one you mentioned (had to trackback to find it). (I also like the fact that it, the incest-rant post, semi-predictably seemed to blow up with comments.)

Actually, I think I'll go write some incest right now since I can't get to sleep. (And you know, if you're in the Furuba fandom and writing a pairing dealing with at least two Sohmas in a relationship, you're essentially writing incest. So, there!)

1408-wolves

[(Anonymous)]

good movie, wish they hadn't sexed it up so much. The line about the brother being eaten by wolves (in story) was freakier than anything H'wood could come up with.
Asians do horror better.