To me it has been one of the best horror movie experiences of 2007.

I think that you are seeing a bit too much in this statement. Most people say things like these without even noticing them, and it has a lot more to do with social mechanisms than racism. Most human beings have a sense of belonging to one "social group", and in situations involving people from another "group", they'll usually mention that other group just to mark the difference and convey information to listeners.

Take the opposite situation in a movie theater, and you'll get 99 % of the time black people telling their friends "man, these white dudes were soooo annoying!". People of average built would also mention "these annoying fat guys", whereas gays might talk about "these loud-mouthed straight guys and their girlfriends" (and vice-versa of course). The same even goes for fashion styles, if the guys annoying you at the movie theater are metalheads, or jocks, or goths, etc., and you're not, you WILL mention that fact nearly everytime, and the doesn't mean that you hate metalheads, jocks or goths.

And now back to the film...

I might go see this on Alky's recommendation, because I know he has a deep background in horror films, and if it scared him, it's got to be good.

Great choice of school, BTW, Alky- too bad Kurt's gone.

Is the story also called 1408 or does it have a different title just I would like to find it and read it and then watch the film.

It had a lot of good scares, a nice thematic core, great acting, and it was legitimately Dantesque, which is rare in horror. A couple things that should be scary feel almost comical, but the scary ones are scary and the characterization is great. It's one of the most literary horror films I've seen in awhile, and does so while being warm and human instead of pretentious, like Saw's Existentialist and Artaud riffs.

I ll just quote myself from the Last Seen Movie thread (page 1704), since it got buried under countless other posts...

Thank you
That story and more yay more reading for the bus.

LMAO
.
.
.
.
.
.

I wasnt impressed at all...I'm actually really surprised so many of you liked it, especially you Alky.

Here's a review that I wrote for another site:

Well, I just got back from seeing the new Stephen King flick, 1408. King can be a cool writer, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson usually do a good job and the trailers looked interesting enough, so I was kind of looking forward to it. Aside from some cool set pieces and a decent over-the-top performance from Cusack, 1408 really isn't anything special.

The plot is typical King fare....burnt out writer (Cusack) checks into a supposedly haunted hotel room. The hotel manager (Sam Jackson, still the eternal badass) tries to persuade him to leave by explaining the gruesome history of the room (1408, the film's namesake), but Cusack decides to stay anyway (what else we you expecting?). Things start out normal enough, but things soon start spiraling out of control.

The movie really doesnt have much going for it. The thrills are either nonexistent or have already been spoiled by the trailer, the plot is incredibly predictable, and Cusack plays one of the most pathetic characters ever to carry a horror movie. He starts out decent enough: overly skeptical, a little burnt out...exactly what you'd expect. Despite coming off as king of the cynics, after about 5 minutes in the room, following a couple of eerie but easily explained occurrences, he's reduced to a pathetic, petrified baby. Cusack does a pretty good job with what he's given, but the character is so poorly written that he really doesnt have alot to work with.

The movie is essentially just an excuse to string together a bunch of relatively cool set pieces. I'll admit that the effects are pretty good for the most part, but as much as I like "fluff" entertainment I wish this movie had some kind of substance holding it together.

Overall it's an overlong, pointless and poorly written effort that winds up being more of a disappointment than a truly awful movie. Dont get me wrong, 1408 is far from the worst movie I've ever seen, and there are certainly worse ways to spend a couple hours. If you want to see lots of crazy stuff going down in a hotel room and John Cusack going insane, this is the movie for you. But if you're just looking to be entertained, go see Rise of the Silver Surfer instead...both are pretty mindless, but RotSS manages to be alot of fun, while this just comes off as pointless.