Some adult video titles are briefly seen on a hotel TV screen, while a supernaturally altered painting suddenly shows a bare-breasted woman. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a quick look at the content found in this horror film that's rated PG-13. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).
JASMINE JESSICA ANTHONY plays their young and dying daughter who's seen in flashback as well as the haunted room.Ĭurious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?.MARY McCORMACK plays Mike's estranged wife who's surprised to get an Internet call from him following his long absence and previous abandonment of her following their daughter's death.He uses brief strong profanity, and briefly smokes (a cigar) and drinks. JACKSON plays the hotel manager who implores Mike not to stay in the room, but by law can't prevent him from doing so. He drinks, uses some profanity, briefly smokes (and otherwise carries a cigarette around with him), and finds his beliefs and resolve tested when odd things start occurring in the room. A skeptic of the paranormal and looking out only for himself, he hides a hurt and tragic part of his past life, the death of his child and his subsequent abandonment of his wife. JOHN CUSACK plays an author of ghostly haunt travel guides who throws all caution to the wind and opts to stay in the supposedly haunted hotel room.WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into spooky horror flicks, or are fans of Cusack, they might be interested. Dictating his observations and findings into a tape recorder, he soon realizes he may have bitten off more than he can chew and might be in way over his head in terms of the paranormal happenings he begins to experience there. Accordingly, and despite repeated warnings and pleas, Mike checks into the room, only to find it quite ordinary.
Mike is undeterred, thinking Gerald's stories of suicides, self-maiming and other odd doings, not to mention a total of 56 deaths in the room's 95-year history, are all just scare tactics designed to heighten the experience. He's the manger at the Dolphin who implores the author not to stay in the room. With advice from a lawyer that New York law states that if a room is not occupied, it must otherwise be made available, Mike travels to the Big Apple where he meets Gerald Olin (SAMUEL L. That's especially true when the phone operator informs him that the room is, in short, perpetually booked. Having received an anonymous postcard from the Dolphin Hotel in New York City that warns him not to enter room 1408, Mike's interest is obviously piqued. Despite making a living from the public's fascination with ghosts, he doesn't believe in them, God, or the hereafter, mainly due to the untimely death of his young daughter Katie (JASMINE JESSICA ANTHONY), a personal tragedy that eventually caused him to abandon his wife, Lily (MARY McCORMACK), back in New York. PLOT: Mike Enslin (JOHN CUSACK) is a California-based travel guide author who writes about various ghostly haunts. QUICK TAKE: Horror: An author of ghostly haunts travel books finds his skeptical resolve challenged when he checks into a reportedly haunted hotel room with a record of many deaths occurring within it.