History Film / FourteenOhEight

* {{Jerkass}}: One of the first things we see Enslin do on screen is to give an alleged haunted hotel six skulls out of ten in his fright scale (then "five skulls, because fuck 'em") even if by his own admission to the tape the hotel's owners treated him quite well and the hotel pretty much only survives by being a tourist trap, followed by being self-aggrandizing when he arrives to a book signing. His conversation with Olin is unnecessarily confrontational and he pooh-poohs Olin's attempt at talking him out of staying in Room 1408 as [[StrawVulcan "superstition" and "publicity stunt" even if, supernatural reasons or not, a hotel advertising itself as being New York's suicide central is the antithesis of a publicity stunt]].

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Implied. When Mike finally decides to set the 1408 on fire realizing he will never escape, the room through the "phone operator" shouts angrily that "We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead !" and a scream in the air conduct is heard implying that it's actually the room doing it through one if its avatars.]]

* StrawVulcan: Subverted. Enslin presents himself, to himself and to others, as an atheist with a skeptical, highly rationalistic perspective on the world, but his true hamartia is his arrogance; he dismisses Olin's warnings without really considering them because his preconceptions make them sound to him like superstitious nonsense, i.e., ghost stories. A genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that Olin's experience as the hotel manager gives him a better claim to authority on the subject of the titular room than anyone who hasn't spent a night in it -- and, if nothing else, a genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that $800 worth of XO cognac is a hell of a long way to go to put over a ghost story. Enslin does suspect that Olin is hyping the story for financial gain, but Olin points out that the hotel is always nearly booked to capacity regardless of any publicity stunt; yet Enslin still refuses to take him seriously. Last but not least, a rationalist would seriously consider the fact that since ''all'' 1408 guests died, staying there is not advised from mere statistical point of view -- after all, nobody with the right mind would risk getting into a scenario with one-hundred-percent mortality rate, supernatural factors involved or not.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Enslin receives one [[spoiler:from his mini-fridge.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The room's only motive apparently.

* PsychoticSmirk: Enslin's doppelganger which appears in the chat window on laptop gives Mike a vicious smile after successfully tricking his wife Lily into entering the titular room.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Just when Enslin thinks he might have his dead daughter back, she falls limp while he's hugging her - and then to twist the knife further, the radio startles him (again) and she crumbles into ash.
* DoomedContrarian: Enslin [[spoiler: barely averts this]].
* DownerEnding: The original ending had [[spoiler: Enslin dying with the room. Test audiences did not approve, and this ending was reserved for the international releases.]]
* DramaticDrop: At the end, when [[spoiler:Enslin is listening to his notes while his wife is unpacking from a recent move. Her reaction to hearing the voice of their dead daughter on the tape is entirely understandable.]]

* StrawVulcan: Subverted. Enslin presents himself, to himself and to others, as an atheist with a skeptical, highly rationalistic perspective on the world, but his true hamartia is his arrogance; he dismisses Olin's warnings without really considering them because his preconceptions make them sound to him like superstitious nonsense, i.e., ghost stories. A genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that Olin's experience as the hotel manager gives him a better claim to authority on the subject of the titular room than anyone who hasn't spent a night in it -- and, if nothing else, a genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that $800 worth of XO cognac is a hell of a long way to go to put over a ghost story. Enslin does suspect that Olin is hyping the story for financial gain, but Olin points out that the hotel is always nearly booked to capacity regardless of any publicity stunt; yet Enslin still refuses to take him seriously.

* YearInsideHourOutside: Time is one of the many things that don't function normally in room 1408. [[spoiler:At one point, Mike is lulled into thinking it was AllJustADream, and he goes on with his life for about a week on the "outside" before the room reveals that he never left at all. In truth, he barely spent an hour in there.]]

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The plot only happens because of Enslin's bone-headed insistence on spending a night in Room 1408 and ignoring Mr. Olin's many, many warnings and attempts to dissuade him. Olin even offers Enslin access to all his files on the room's history and suggests that Enslin photograph room 1404 with its identical layout, pointing out that his readers wouldn't even know the difference; Enslin refuses because he wants it to be "authentic". By the time Enslin realizes his mistake, it's too late for him.

* TooDumbToLive: Enslin counts. Even if he is a skeptic in the supernatural, it should have been disturbingly obvious with the extensive history of mysterious deaths and mutilations that Olin provides him that room 1408, regardless of nature, was dangerous, he still insists on staying the night. Olin even offers him access to all his files on the room's history and suggests that Enslin photograph room 1404 with its identical layout, pointing out that his readers wouldn't even know the difference; Enslin refuses because he want it to be "authentic". It ends up costing him dearly. An argument of Enslin acting this way can be argued that he has become so jaded with desperation of hotels playing off ghost stories, to say his ''own'' jadedness with not believing in ghosts and religion, is arguably why he thinks Olin is lying. That being said, considering the amount of evidence against the room, Enslin should have been a lot more wary.

* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The torments the room puts Enslin through can be downright slapstick, and the sheer comedic timing of some of it implied to be fully intentional on the room's part. It might not have a face, but it's obvious that it finds the whole thing to be absolutely ''hilarious.''

* EvilHasABAdSenseOfHumor: The torments the room puts Enslin through can be downright slapstick, and the sheer comedic timing of some of it implied to be fully intentional on the room's part. It might not have a face, but it's obvious that it finds the whole thing to be absolutely ''hilarious.''

* FairPlayVillain: Downplayed, but the room does seemingly give Mike a chance to leave at the beginning, leading him [[EldritchLocation back to the elevator he just came from despite him walking in a straight line, and opening its doors in invitation]]. Unfortunately Mike doesn't take the hint until it's far too late.

* EvilPhone: On the few occasions when the room decides to verbally communicate with Enslin, it does so through the room's phone. Though it initially pretends to genuinely be one of the hotel's employees (albeit one who ignores Enslin's complaints), the ruse eventually drops.

* EvilPhone: ''"Five. This is five. Ignore the sirens. Even if you leave this room, you can NEVER leave this room. Eight. This is eight. We have killed your friends. Every friend is now dead. Six. This is six."''
* EyeScream: A cleaning lady who found herself locked in 1408's bathroom for four seconds used a pair of scissors to cut her own eyes out. What had she seen? No one knows. In the short story, it was subtler yet in its own way scarier. She simply goes temporarily blind while cleaning the room, and yet she says "she's blind, but she can see the most awful colors".

''1408'' is a 2007 PsychologicalHorror film directed by Mikael Håfström and starring Creator/JohnCusack and Creator/SamuelLJackson, based on a Creator/StephenKing short story by the same name.

* FridgeHorror: Invoked and discussed by Mike as he settles into the room and prepares his investigation.
-->"Hotel rooms ''are'' a naturally creepy place, don't you think? I mean, how many people have slept in that bed before you? How many of them were sick? How many of them lost their minds? How many of them... died?"

* HeadInTheSandManagement: The Dolphin Hotel is owned by a Japanese company who are ignoring Olin's requests to seal off 1408 despite detailed evidence of the dozens of guests who have died in there, many of them violently. Olin compares it to the superstition of pretending there is no 13th floor. This is avoided by [[OnlySaneMan Olin himself]], who has done everything in his power to prevent anyone from going in there and to minimize any further harm the room can do.

* StrawVulcan: Subverted. Enslin presents himself, to himself and to others, as an atheist with a skeptical, highly rationalistic perspective on the world, but his true hamartia is his arrogance; he dismisses Olin's warnings without really considering them because his preconceptions make them sound to him like superstitious nonsense, i.e., ghost stories. A genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that Olin's experience as the hotel manager gives him a better claim to authority on the subject of the titular room than anyone who hasn't spent a night in it -- and, if nothing else, a genuine skeptical rationalist would consider that $800 worth of XO cognac is a hell of a long way to go to put over a ghost story.

* LawfulStupid: Enslin uses an old civil rights law to coerce Mr. Olin to let him stay in room 1408 despite the latter's ''very pointed'' requests that he not go in there and providing detailed files on the victims as proof that it's too dangerous. However, since Enslin ignores his warnings, Olin is forced to cooperate or otherwise open the hotel to a lawsuit. It doesn't help Olin's case that the owners of the hotel are blithely denying the obvious safety issues of the room, which would make it incredibly easy for Enslin's lawyers to argue discrimination in court.

* LawfulStupid: Enslin uses an old civil rights law to coerce Mr. Olin to let him stay in room 1408 despite the latter's ''very pointed'' requests that he not go in there and providing detailed files on the victims as proof that it's too dangerous. However, since Enslin ignores his warnings, Olin is forced to cooperate or otherwise open the hotel to a lawsuit.