Movie fans may have forgotten the terrifying power of a good old-fashioned ghost story, but 1408 serves as a reminder by showing them a creepy good time -- and without splattering the red stuff all across the screen. 

Writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack) has spent the latter part of his literary career investigating paranormal phenomena. From haunted mansions to spooky inns, he's traveled to all sorts of so-called supernatural sights and found them to be as phony as a three-dollar bill. Then one day, he receives a postcard from New York City's Dolphin Hotel, a swanky joint with one little blemish: Room 1408. A room that's claimed 56 lives since the Dolphin's grand opening, 1408 has driven its inhabitants to insanity, murder, and even suicide, all in one hour or less.

Dolphin manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) pleads with Mike not to stay in that room -- but sensing a great conclusion to his latest book and seeing Olin's warnings as a little huckstering at work, Mike checks into the infamous 1408 anyway. Little does he know that the room is indeed home to a most malevolent force, one that will send Mike on a frightening journey, forcing him to confront his personal demons as 1408 tries its hardest to drive him completely mad.

1408 is a horror movie that realizes what's truly scary: it's not the mere act of seeing something grotesque happening to another person, but to someone we like and sympathize with. Far from the nameless victims of Freddy and Jason, 1408 establishes itself as a character piece by expertly placing us in the shoes of its primary player. Mike Enslin is a good person with bad things happening to him, a flawed individual with a secret past that has caused his cynical eye to spurn the realm of the otherworldly. But we root for him anyway, partially as the result of a good script. Mike comes together as a whole, thanks to terrific work by the underrated John Cusack, who performs an amazing  balancing act as he plays both the jaded writer going up against a ghostly gauntlet and a man running away from a tragic past at the same time. In another world, 1408 might've been some boring venture about a guy going nuts in a room for an hour and a half, but Cusack helps make Mike's fight against a supernatural onslaught more than compelling.

As a horror film, 1408 is quite a freaky little movie. Director Mikael Hafstrom (Derailed) unleashes the usual bunch of scare tactics, from loud noises being accompanied by louder orchestra cues to the appliances that turn on all by themselves. Hafstrom does a better job of fleshing out the story's dark themes than he does in crafting an out-and-out scarefest, but he also delivers a couple of jolts to the viewers (especially Mike's encounter with a ghoulish corpse in an air vent), turning a bland, unassuming hotel room into a hotbed of horror. Samuel L. Jackson lends solid support in a brief but well-done performance as the Dolphin's manager, who's all too familiar with 1408's murderous tendencies. However, none of the other actors really shine: Mary McCormack does what she can in the ho-um role of Mike's estranged wife, and Tony Shalhoub appears just long enough to remind viewers he hasn't completely abandoned the movies for his hit TV show Monk.

With its blend of the dramatic and the horrific, 1408 seems a lot like the chilling Dark Water of 2005. And, fortunately for horror buffs, it performs almost all the right moves to strike a chord of fear in the hearts of summer moviegoers. 

MY RATING: *** (out of ****)

(Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and rated "PG-13" for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening mages and language.)