Here we get to see more of O’Malley and even though director Hafstrom admits to be glad that they cut this scene I prefer the longer version.Īll in all the director’s cut is 8 minutes longer (112 compared to 104) then the theatrical version. One scene that I enjoyed in its longer version is the scene where Mike is hunted by Kevin O’Malley’s ghost in the vent above the room. Some of the scenes that are a bit longer also explain more of the story for the audience. The additional scenes add more on Mike’s relationship with his father and his family. The difference between the director’s cut and the original theatrical version is a few additional scenes and as I mentioned, a different ending. Another good part to the two-disc disc edition is that you can choose which ending you want to see-it’s up to you! I prefer the ending that the director’s cut provides, which is a little sadder and a little darker. Personally, I like the director’s cut edition a little better. The two-disc edition contains both the theatrical version of the movie and the director’s cut of the movie along with a larger special features section. The single disc edition contains the theatrical version of the movie, John Cusack on 1408, Inside room 1408, and the theatrical trailer. If you want my thoughts on the film you can find them here. Below is my review on the content of both versions of the DVDs. The studio is releasing two versions of the DVD: a one-disc edition and a two –disc director’s cut edition. There are also two additional ending variants available on 1408's Blu-Ray release, one in which Mike dies and his publisher Sam somehow gets mailed the manuscript Mike wrote about the room during a false ending earlier in the film, and another where Mike lives that's just a slight change to the theatrical ending.Today the DVD edition of 1408 hits stores in the US. As is so often the case, test audiences seem to have gotten this one wrong. Interestingly, the original director's cut ending is the default on most home video releases of 1408, and is now considered by most fans to be the definitive conclusion. According to director Mikael Hafstrom, this ending wasn't used because test audiences didn't like it, believing it to be too depressing to see Mike not survive. It's a bit ambiguous what happens after, but it would appear that Mike and Katie go on to the afterlife together. Lily is left emotionally shattered, and Olin sees a terrifying vision of Mike's burnt corpse, as well as Mike's daughter Katie. In the director's cut, original ending, Mike succeeds in destroying the room but dies in the process.
It's certainly not a happy ending, but at least Mike survived. In the theatrical cut, an epilogue scene sees Mike back at home with his wife Lily, who doubts his story of what happened until she hears their dead daughter's voice on Mike's tape recorder. The room tries to get Mike Enslin to commit suicide, but he refuses, turning the tables by managing to light the cursed location on fire and burn it down, much to Olin's delight. The beginning of 1408's end is the same in both the theatrically released cut and the director's cut, which contains the originally planned conclusion. 1408's Original Ending Was Much Darker - Why It Was Changed Yet, the ending audiences saw in theaters was the end result of big changes to the original conclusion.
Jackson as Olin, 1408 was a critical and commercial hit, and is generally considered one of the best King-based movies to date. Starring John Cusack as Enslin and Samuel L. Many King fans pointed to 1408 as the standout story of Everything's Eventual, and in 2007, a film adaptation of 1408 was released. Related: 1408: The Creepy True Story That Inspired The Movie Unsurprisingly, he soon learns Olin was right. Against the desperate urging of hotel manager Gerald Olin, Enslin books the room after threatening Olin with legal action.
Research for a new book leads Enslin to the supposedly haunted room 1408 at New York City's high-end Dolphin Hotel. The story focuses on Mike Enslin, an author and paranormal investigator who, oddly enough, doesn't actually believe in the paranormal. However, it's not King's only successful attempt at turning a hotel into a source of abject terror, as he also wrote the short story 1408.ġ408 was first published in King's 1999 short story collection Everything's Eventual, which as usual for the author, was received exceptionally well. When it comes to haunted hotels, King likely crafted the definitive story of that very specific sub-genre with his classic novel The Shining, which was of course adapted into an iconic 1980 film by director Stanley Kubrick. 2007's acclaimed Stephen King adaptation 1408 didn't necessarily end on an upbeat note, but its original conclusion was much darker still.