# Stephen King's 1408: Will it suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612 "2007-06-03T21:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/1 "2007-06-03T21:57:41Z")
I’m excited about Stephen King’s 1408. For my money, it was one of his three scariest short stories I’ve ever read (and I’ve read quite a few), and the scariest one from the _Everything’s Eventual_ collection. [The movie](http://imdb.com/title/tt0450385/) is due out June 22nd, and unless the reviews thoroughly pan it, I’ll be there. I’ve looked at the photos on IMDB, and even some of the photos scared me. I like John Cusack pretty well. I like Samuel L. Jackson, too, but totally would not have pictured him as the hotel manager. So, what do y’all think? Will it suck, or is there hope? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/2 "2007-06-03T22:40:08Z")
[QUOTE=norinew] So, what do y’all think? Will it suck, or is there hope? [/QUOTE] King stories turned into movies are pretty iffy. Some have sucked bigtime (It, Maximum Overdrive), some have been fantastic (Green Mile, Stand by Me, Shawshank Redemption). Looking at the director/screenwriter credits, I’m not super hopeful. Maybe they’ll pull it off. It was a good story. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/3 "2007-06-03T22:48:26Z")
In the trailer it looks like they added backstory that includes a dead daughter making him want to find out if ghosts are real, blah blah blah. That kind of annoys me. But I’m keeping my fingers x’d and will probably go see it. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/4 "2007-06-03T23:00:07Z")
I’m surprised they made this one into a movie. To me, there wasn’t much of a story…Man checks into “haunted” hotel room, against the wishes of the hotel manager, sees some scary stuff, gets rescued just in time. The End. I would really like to see _Everything’s Eventual_ (the story, not the whole book) made into a movie. That one has some serious potential. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/5 "2007-06-04T00:02:13Z")
**ivylass** : That’s what I was thinking. I’m assuming from the short story, and from the commercials I’ve seen, that they’ll fill in some of the time by (spoilers juuuust in case) seriously punching up the surreality of the whole experience - give him all sorts of new and freaky hallucinations and stuff… maybe take him into it more slowly, since the whole use of rapidly sliding narrative to show him going over the edge won’t work as well. As for the dead daughter… Didn’t he have a dead brother in the story? Not that the brother was indicated as being a major reason for anything, but I seem to remember him having that. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/6 "2007-06-04T01:02:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Didn’t he have a dead brother in the story? He did. One of the disturbing parts of the story was where he said into his recorder “My brother was killed by wolves on the side of the freeway” (or something like that; I’m going on memory here). Maybe they did the dead daughter instead of dead brother because they felt they needed a female or two in the movie? > [@ivylass](#): > > I would really like to see Everything’s Eventual (the story, not the whole book) made into a movie. That one has some serious potential. I agree. I could also see _In The Deathroom_ as a movie. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/7 "2007-06-04T01:16:18Z")
Yep, dead brother. And the “killed by wolves” quote is correct. I wondered if it was a little link to The Stand. I’ve noticed that in many movies they feel compelled to add a dead child/spouse to explain the protagonist’s passion for whatever he or she is pursuing. It always bothers me. Why does there always have to be some gut-wrenching explanation? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/8 "2007-06-04T02:02:11Z")
> [@moonstarssun](#): > > Yep, dead brother. And the “killed by wolves” quote is correct. I wondered if it was a little link to The Stand. I’ve wondered, too, if it was a little nod to _The Stand_ (which is my all-time favorite Stephen King book, with the possible exception of _The Talisman_. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/9 "2007-06-04T11:27:33Z")
[QUOTE=moonstarssun] I’ve noticed that in many movies they feel compelled to add a dead child/spouse to explain the protagonist’s passion for whatever he or she is pursuing. It always bothers me. Why does there always have to be some gut-wrenching explanation? [/QUOTE] I’m with you all the way. I adore this story, but I’m skeptical it can be made into a good movie, since the subjective experience is so key. To read about \*him \*seeing these things is scary, but I worry that the \*audience \*seeing these things will be lame, if you know what I mean. And I hate the dead kid angle. After all, some of the fun of the story comes from him being a jaded hack who is able to turn out his books because he has zero belief in the supernatural, so camping out in “haunted” places is no big deal. If it turns out he’s on a quest to find evidence of life after death, that kind of ruins it for me. Oh, but I’m so going to see it anyway. I hope they have someone really talented do the phone voice: “This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six!” _Shiver_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/10 "2007-06-04T11:52:35Z")
I predict suck. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/11 "2007-06-04T11:57:20Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I predict suck. [/QUOTE] Same here. I can’t see how that story could possibly be made into a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/12 "2007-06-04T12:00:07Z")
> [@Unauthorized Cinnamon](#): > > I hope they have someone really talented do the phone voice: “This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six!” _Shiver_ Oh, my! I hope it’s someone good, too! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/13 "2007-06-04T12:50:11Z")
Suck. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/14 "2007-06-04T13:10:45Z")
I predict suck, too, but I’ll be watching it… ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/15 "2007-06-04T14:17:25Z")
The voice on the phone was the most disturbing part of that story, IMO. It kept me awake at night just imagining it. If they nail it in the movie it’ll be totally worth the price of the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/16 "2007-06-04T17:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=norinew] I agree. I could also see _In The Deathroom_ as a movie. [/QUOTE] Refresh me on the plot on that one? Is that the one with the dying mother? I think the one with the toy chimp with the cymbals (you know the one I mean) would be good for a TV movie. Anyone know if TNT is doing _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ again this summer? ---
**Author:** ![toadbriar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@toadbriar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadbriar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/17 "2007-06-04T17:03:38Z")
I recall this story was included in the audio collection Blood and Smoke. The telephone voice was pretty much perfect in that version. I am excited about this movie, I think I heard a whisper about it a long while ago but forgot. John Cusack in a Stephen King story - I’m delighted! Did you ever feel like the universe was catering entirely to you? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/18 "2007-06-04T17:03:45Z")
John Cusack, incredibly gifted as he is, has an uncanny ability to pick incredibly crappy material when it comes to mainstream Hollywood films: _America’s Sweethearts, Must Love Dogs, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, Con Air_. It seems like he is so on-the-margins, that he has no instinct when it comes to what he thinks a broader audience might like. I vote for Suck. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/19 "2007-06-04T17:16:29Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Refresh me on the plot on that one? Is that the one with the dying mother? No. _In The Deathroom_ is about an American newspaper reporter in Mexico. He’s been helping some Mexicans who are rebelling against the government, and has some valuable information about a coming attack. 98% of the story takes place in a room where he is being questioned. It’s very much a story about the human psyche, and heroism. I think it could be a very good movie. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612/20 "2007-06-04T17:34:21Z")
The story lends itself wonderfully to an audio reading (and there is one, and I’ve heard it’s wonderful), but I think a movie will be the suck. There’s not enough there to sustain a movie, and adding more ruins it; the whole point it that it happened quickly and was scary as shit. A glimpse into hell. I think a movie made of _Everythings Eventual_ (the short story) would be wonderful, if done well. There’s enough going on there to easily flesh it out into a movie. But I’m really disappointed they picked 1408 for this. The story is so terrific and scary; they are going to ruin it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-1408-will-it-suck/406612.md?page=2)