After listening to The Forgotten Cinema episode for 1408 (you should check them out!), I decided I prefer the positive ending with the tape recorder. Which ending do you prefer??
I don’t mind the ending where Mike dies in the movie, but I do get why the director liked his ending more where the character survived instead of evil winning. Plus he wanted it to be more in line with how King wrote it
@LucyLioness100 I've been confused on which one the director preferred because I've heard conflicting things on that! But yeah, him living is more in line with thr story
It's a tie, for me, between the one where Lily hears Katie's voice on the tape, and the one where he dies, and Olin shows up to his funeral. The former is more optimistic (apart from the f***ing heart attack that would have given Lily)....but the latter touches on the movie's theme of belief/lack of belief in an afterlife, because it shows that Mike's soul gains Redemption, and that he is reunited with his daughter in death.
Loved this video so so much!! 1408 is actually one of my favourite films of all time, and this short story is one of my most beloved works by King. I feel the best horror films are usually solid metaphors for grief (note The Babadook as well!). That being said, King's own suffering with being put down for what he writes makes his public shaming of Stephenie Meyer all the more unforgivable, to my eye. Romance still has it so much worse than horror on the 'genre shaming scale'. He had no business being so horrendously mean and dismissive towards a woman who was just writing what she liked and felt (just like him). Millions of women and men liked and felt Meyer's work too, and it sold even better than King's at the time. His condescendence (and maybe a tad of jealousy?) made him turn into the kind of dismissive bully-audience that he himself felt tormented by in his youth. He, better than anybody else, should have understood how mean and unnecessary his comments were, and he chose to bark them anyway. It is completely inexcusable, and I have lost my personal respect for him.
@@WhytheBookWins yeah... he was really so mean! It was shocking to me because I've always admired King and think many of his opinions are actually very sensible. Stephenie Meyer is no Virginia Woolf. Her prose is not brilliant but honestly, nor is Stephen King's. The appeal of authors like them is that their stories speak to mass audiences with their emotional focus, and with the instinctive relatability their target audience experiences with them. I was just so surprised by how unnecessarily hurtful he chose to be towards a fellow writer - one who I would have expected him to emphatise with. Just so disappointing. :/ Anyway, rant over! I enjoyed this video so much. 1408 is still the best!!! And I just can't get enough of your content Laura! :)
Best Stephen King adaptation ever. :) As far as endings go, I think the director's cut works better if you see the movie as a retelling of Dante's Inferno. The theatrical release works better if you see the story as mainly focusing on him processing his grief, and finally making an unselfish decision. Either he gets rewarded with being allowed to live, or his soul gets rewarded with redemption. As far as Stephen King short stories go; are you going to do "The Boogeyman" at some point? Would love to see your take on that!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! And The Boogeyman isn't one I'm planning on covering. When it comes to King, there are so many options! And there are others I would prefer to do over The Boogeyman.
The first novel I ever read was King's "Salem's Lot" in 1984 when I was 12 years old. My parents and my older sister had been reading his novels for years at that point, so my folks were cool with me reading them. It was reading King's work that drove me to begin writing. On those rare occasions when I've encountered someone out in the wild (so to speak) who has read my work, I always flash onto that part of "1408" where Mike Enslin describes the odd layering of emotions. It's so apt, I think every writer knows that feeling. I've always thought my own terror elicited by King's stories arises from how unerringly they vividly, indeed viscerally, evoke some aspect of my own personal experience of the human condition. And of course, his vampires...you don't wanna be one of them, you don't wanna date one of them. 🤣 Oh, I've always believed the room itself sent the postcard to Mike.
Wow, I did not know this movie was based off a Stephen King story, but I guess that's why this one stuck with me than most scary stories! Definitely gonna rewatch this again because I do not remember Samuel L. Jackson at all, or the fact that it had multiple endings! Great Review as always Laura!
Thanks for reminding me that I have this movie, but haven't watched it yet! I have dozens of movies I bought through Amazon at low used prices (Impulse buying!). As always, well done!
@@WhytheBookWins It's on my coffee table...(And, not for podcast purposes but for enjoyment, I hope you get a chance to watch "Mary Shelley". It's the most interesting movie I've seen in the last few years. It unfolds as it develops, very rare these days) . Thanks again for the heads up on "1408".
This was a classic movie, have you ever done Cell? It was another Stephen King book which oddly enough also had a movie adaptation with John Cusack and Sam Jackson. It was like a superntural zombie flick. Great breakdown as usual!
9::35 so IMO regarding whp sent the postcard about the dolphin hotel maybe its his estranged wife wanting to prove to Mike that theres more to this life then just we live we die and thats it.
Dude I’ve seen this so many times but I had no idea there were multiple endings. Ive always just seen the ending where he dies and the jumpscare in the back of the car
Short story was so much better, in ways that movies can never manage. You can't show a door being crooked in both directions on film. Plus you don't need a background for the guy, the point is that there's something Lovecraftian going on. Like a newborn version of the Overlook, or a thinny.
The short story is pretty good, but I do think the movie excelled a bit more thanks to John Cusack’s performance in a mostly one-man show. Plus the hauntings are pretty terrifying in making you wonder what’s actually happening or solely in the mind. I don’t care too much for the dead child added subplot, but it doesn’t ruin the movie for me
The casting of Samuel L Jackson as Olin what's an amazing choice and creates a stark difference to my reaction of the character from in the book. I mean, if a stuffy old British guy told me not to do something, I might do it out of spite. But if Samuel L Jackson told me not to do something, I might listen.
I have not read the book, but the movie really scared me. I'm not much of a horror movie fan (Chicken), but I love this movie. The acting is so good, and the room 1408 feels super evil.
He sent the postcard to himself. He was basically dead after the initial surfing accident. The rest is 'somewhere else' probably in his own head. (and don't get me onto all the alternate endings, a brilliant idea!!!)
I liked the alien interpretation of the room in the book more. The movie room is cool but ehh it's still kind of ghost poltergeist-y, it's a lot less disgusting than in the book. More playing off of the main character's emotions and trauma, while the book version is nauseating incomprehensible chaos with all of the sagging and transforming of euclidean geometry, like a live organism from another dimension. The MC described it as a melting rotting cave which I thought was pretty awesome lol. Much rather preferred the room as some kind of unknowable "thing" that makes itself look like a hotel room to lure in and consume it's prey more like a lovecraftian creature, than a haunted room.
After listening to The Forgotten Cinema episode for 1408 (you should check them out!), I decided I prefer the positive ending with the tape recorder. Which ending do you prefer??
I don’t mind the ending where Mike dies in the movie, but I do get why the director liked his ending more where the character survived instead of evil winning. Plus he wanted it to be more in line with how King wrote it
@LucyLioness100 I've been confused on which one the director preferred because I've heard conflicting things on that! But yeah, him living is more in line with thr story
It's a tie, for me, between the one where Lily hears Katie's voice on the tape, and the one where he dies, and Olin shows up to his funeral. The former is more optimistic (apart from the f***ing heart attack that would have given Lily)....but the latter touches on the movie's theme of belief/lack of belief in an afterlife, because it shows that Mike's soul gains Redemption, and that he is reunited with his daughter in death.
Loved this video so so much!! 1408 is actually one of my favourite films of all time, and this short story is one of my most beloved works by King. I feel the best horror films are usually solid metaphors for grief (note The Babadook as well!).
That being said, King's own suffering with being put down for what he writes makes his public shaming of Stephenie Meyer all the more unforgivable, to my eye.
Romance still has it so much worse than horror on the 'genre shaming scale'. He had no business being so horrendously mean and dismissive towards a woman who was just writing what she liked and felt (just like him). Millions of women and men liked and felt Meyer's work too, and it sold even better than King's at the time.
His condescendence (and maybe a tad of jealousy?) made him turn into the kind of dismissive bully-audience that he himself felt tormented by in his youth. He, better than anybody else, should have understood how mean and unnecessary his comments were, and he chose to bark them anyway.
It is completely inexcusable, and I have lost my personal respect for him.
Oh wow, I wasn't aware of that! But yeah, the romance genre definitely has it worse.
@@WhytheBookWins yeah... he was really so mean! It was shocking to me because I've always admired King and think many of his opinions are actually very sensible.
Stephenie Meyer is no Virginia Woolf. Her prose is not brilliant but honestly, nor is Stephen King's. The appeal of authors like them is that their stories speak to mass audiences with their emotional focus, and with the instinctive relatability their target audience experiences with them.
I was just so surprised by how unnecessarily hurtful he chose to be towards a fellow writer - one who I would have expected him to emphatise with. Just so disappointing. :/
Anyway, rant over! I enjoyed this video so much. 1408 is still the best!!! And I just can't get enough of your content Laura! :)
Best Stephen King adaptation ever. :) As far as endings go, I think the director's cut works better if you see the movie as a retelling of Dante's Inferno. The theatrical release works better if you see the story as mainly focusing on him processing his grief, and finally making an unselfish decision. Either he gets rewarded with being allowed to live, or his soul gets rewarded with redemption.
As far as Stephen King short stories go; are you going to do "The Boogeyman" at some point? Would love to see your take on that!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
And The Boogeyman isn't one I'm planning on covering. When it comes to King, there are so many options! And there are others I would prefer to do over The Boogeyman.
@@WhytheBookWins Do you know which King novel/story you're covering next?
‼️ I remember watching this in the theaters with my dad 😆
oh fun!
Same
My mom showed "1408" to me when I was 5 years old, yet I had no idea that it was a horror movie.
The first novel I ever read was King's "Salem's Lot" in 1984 when I was 12 years old. My parents and my older sister had been reading his novels for years at that point, so my folks were cool with me reading them. It was reading King's work that drove me to begin writing. On those rare occasions when I've encountered someone out in the wild (so to speak) who has read my work, I always flash onto that part of "1408" where Mike Enslin describes the odd layering of emotions. It's so apt, I think every writer knows that feeling. I've always thought my own terror elicited by King's stories arises from how unerringly they vividly, indeed viscerally, evoke some aspect of my own personal experience of the human condition.
And of course, his vampires...you don't wanna be one of them, you don't wanna date one of them. 🤣
Oh, I've always believed the room itself sent the postcard to Mike.
Thanks for sharing! Totally agree that King does a great job writing about the human condition in such a real way.
I think it was either the room or another 1408 guest that sent the letter. Maybe it could've even been himself
Yeah someone else suggested it was Mike himself which is an interesting theory!
These videos deserve so much more love. They're honestly great
Thank you so much!!
Wow, I did not know this movie was based off a Stephen King story, but I guess that's why this one stuck with me than most scary stories! Definitely gonna rewatch this again because I do not remember Samuel L. Jackson at all, or the fact that it had multiple endings! Great Review as always Laura!
Thanks! And it is definitely worth returning to! I agree, it's one that sticks with you
The version where the wife doesn't hear the recording is my favourite because it indicates that he is still stuck in the room.
Yeah that's a good one even though it's so depressing!
Thanks for reminding me that I have this movie, but haven't watched it yet! I have dozens of movies I bought through Amazon at low used prices (Impulse buying!). As always, well done!
It's definitely worth watching!
@@WhytheBookWins It's on my coffee table...(And, not for podcast purposes but for enjoyment, I hope you get a chance to watch "Mary Shelley". It's the most interesting movie I've seen in the last few years. It unfolds as it develops, very rare these days) . Thanks again for the heads up on "1408".
This was a classic movie, have you ever done Cell? It was another Stephen King book which oddly enough also had a movie adaptation with John Cusack and Sam Jackson. It was like a superntural zombie flick. Great breakdown as usual!
I haven't! But I think you're like the third person to recommend it so I definitely should!
9::35 so IMO regarding whp sent the postcard about the dolphin hotel maybe its his estranged wife wanting to prove to Mike that theres more to this life then just we live we die and thats it.
hmm that's not a bad guess
Dude I’ve seen this so many times but I had no idea there were multiple endings. Ive always just seen the ending where he dies and the jumpscare in the back of the car
Oh wow! Yeah you can find the other endings on UA-cam. I watched it on Amazon though and it was the ending when he lives
I've never read the book but the movie scared me so much haha. Love your sweater!! ❤
Thanks!
Short story was so much better, in ways that movies can never manage. You can't show a door being crooked in both directions on film. Plus you don't need a background for the guy, the point is that there's something Lovecraftian going on. Like a newborn version of the Overlook, or a thinny.
The short story is pretty good, but I do think the movie excelled a bit more thanks to John Cusack’s performance in a mostly one-man show. Plus the hauntings are pretty terrifying in making you wonder what’s actually happening or solely in the mind. I don’t care too much for the dead child added subplot, but it doesn’t ruin the movie for me
The casting of Samuel L Jackson as Olin what's an amazing choice and creates a stark difference to my reaction of the character from in the book. I mean, if a stuffy old British guy told me not to do something, I might do it out of spite. But if Samuel L Jackson told me not to do something, I might listen.
Lol so true
I have not read the book, but the movie really scared me. I'm not much of a horror movie fan (Chicken), but I love this movie. The acting is so good, and the room 1408 feels super evil.
Definitely!
I really enjoyed the movie adaptation john and Samuel did a great job
Agreed!
He sent the postcard to himself. He was basically dead after the initial surfing accident. The rest is 'somewhere else' probably in his own head. (and don't get me onto all the alternate endings, a brilliant idea!!!)
Ooooh, I hadn't even considered that!
I liked the alien interpretation of the room in the book more. The movie room is cool but ehh it's still kind of ghost poltergeist-y, it's a lot less disgusting than in the book. More playing off of the main character's emotions and trauma, while the book version is nauseating incomprehensible chaos with all of the sagging and transforming of euclidean geometry, like a live organism from another dimension. The MC described it as a melting rotting cave which I thought was pretty awesome lol. Much rather preferred the room as some kind of unknowable "thing" that makes itself look like a hotel room to lure in and consume it's prey more like a lovecraftian creature, than a haunted room.
yeah good point!
Gods yeah. The surreal horror is great.