Analysis of 'Room 1408'

The scene opens with a two-shot of a mother and her daughter which immediately indicates a sense of family and relationship as well as suggesting love. The audience quickly learn that the daughter will die soon, however, the father (John Cusack) claims that his daughter will “stay here with us”, his daughter responds by explaining that “everyone dies”. Shot-reverse-shot editing into close-ups between the father and his daughter indicate that she is the most precious thing in his life. To emphasise this, the sounds of piano and string instruments can be heard to connote love as well as and danger and a sense of trouble ahead. The instruments are intentionally played in a minor key to demonstrate sad, lonely and haunting emotions. The music is conventional to the psychological horror genre. The deep voice of a man provides the voice-over for the trailer, this is conventional as it adds to the heightening of the tension. The voice-over moves the plot along as it explains that “after many years of searching, he (Cusack) no longer believes”.

The scene cuts to Cusack searching for evidence of ‘other life forms’ in a dark corridor using a special gamma-ray torch. This is a binary opposition of light and dark as suggested by Levi-Strauss. Cusack uncovers handprints on the walls, this indicates terror. The fact that Cusack has never seen a ghost before is the motive behind his desire to visit various places in order to find evidence of their existence. The use of both Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack in the film is intentional. Black actors are usually installed as authority figures, Jackson wears a suit and tie to demonstrate his power.

The camera cuts to an Extreme Close-Up (ECU) of the key turning in the lock. There is a binary opposition of the dark of the door and the bright white of the light outside as the key turns. This is done intentionally to indicate that he is opening the door and about to ‘enter at his own peril’. Furthermore, the bright white colours are usually associated with heaven. This suggests that Cusack is in real danger of death by staying in Room 1408, as he was warned by Jackson. The sound of the creaking door as it opens emphasises a haunted space. This sound is conventional to the psychological horror genre. A long shot shows Cusack standing in the doorway staring into the darkness. This emphasises that he is very much alone. A pan of the room demonstrates a hegemonic setting, the room is normal, nothing is wrong- or so it seems. This is demonstrated through Cusack stating, “Is this it?” in an arrogant manner. The door is pushed closed and the camera shows the room number, the door creaks shut to again indicate terror and haunting, the screen then fades to black to emphasise loneliness, peril and ultimately death.

The terror begins with the buzzing of the clock. Music is played from it before a close-up of the clock now displaying a countdown timer. Jackson had previously stated that most residents don’t last more than an hour in the room, the timer counts down from the hour mark to show that Cusack’s remaining minutes alive are being clocked. A fade to black further emphasises the peril. Following this, there are quick fades from the action on the screen to black. This is used to demonstrate the quickened pace of Cusack’s heartbeat, he begins to fear the room. Visual effects and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) are used to make the film more disturbing, for example a negative effect is used on a man swinging a knife at Cusack and also to demonstrate Cusack’s reaction to the attack. The negative effect is used intentionally to connote to the psychological horror genre and to further emphasise the scale of the attack. The room must be feared.

A high-angle shot shows Cusack trying to escape from the room, rather predictably the key will not turn- this is conventional to the psychological horror genre- and he is thus trapped. A close-up of Cusack’s face shows him curled up in fear, hiding from the room. This demonstrates that he now fears the room, it is unconventional for the male character to be the victim in a psychological horror, however, he can also seen as the hero as suggested by Propp’s theory. A male playing the role of the hero is more conventional. Todorov’s theory can also be used when analysing the ‘Room 1408’ trailer. The equilibrium of the narrative is Cusack’s daughter dying and him going on a quest in search of ghosts, the disequilibrium is the panic and confusion inside Room 1408. The resolution of the trailer is that Cusack manages to escape the tortures of the room but he still finds himself face to face with the ghosts of his precious daughter. Shot-reverse-shot editing into a close-up of the father and daughter’s conversation, there is a fade to black in between the cuts to close-ups, this is used to further illustrate peril. The trailer ends with the daughter asking “Daddy, don’t you love me anymore?” An ECU of Cusack shows that ‘monsters’ hands have been placed on his own as he grasps his head in fear. We see another shot in negatives to illustrate fear and confusion- this is conventional for psychological horrors- before a shot of the room door and the number displayed on the outside. There is a binary opposition of the dark colours of the door contrasting with the light, bright, gold colours of the number.

Cusack climbs through the air vent in an attempt to escape, however, he is blocked by a body that he presumes is the dead body of the last resident to have stayed in Room 1408. The body comes to life and Cusack screams in fear as demonstrated with an over-the-shoulder shot. The background music heightens tension as it goes from being slow to fast-paced music very quickly, this may again demonstrate Cusack’s heartbeat. The sound effect of the wind whistling further emphasises terror and the fact that he is alone. Cusack returns to the room which is now covered in snow and ice, he is freezing cold which is demonstrated by a CU of his face showing small icicles hanging from his eyebrows, nose and beard etc. He is speaking to a woman on his computer and asks if she has rang for help, she replies that the police are in Room 1408 but the “room is empty”. This raises suspense and mystery as the audience ask, ‘where is he?’, ‘how does he escape?’ etc. This complies with Barthes enigma theory from the 5 narrative codes. An ECU of Cusack’s head being raised from the floor to a position where he looks straight down the camera- unconventional as he is a male character and should therefore resists the gaze of the camera- demonstrates he is tired, scared and confused as well as being very much alone.

Fast-paced jump cuts then show Cusack facing trouble from all four of the elements. First a portrait of a ship comes to life and freezes Cusack’s room, a wide shot shows him struggling against the fury of the waves. Then as he tries to escape from the room he hangs from the building attempting to ‘shimmy’ along it to safety. However, the powerful gust of the wind outside ensures he is further tormented by the room as it tries to force him off the side of the building. The scene then cuts to Cusack throwing a projectile at the fireplace in anger, but this leads to his room being filled with raging flames. Lastly, after evading the collapse of the concrete structure Cusack stands in the ruins of the broken building staring into the face of the ghost of his daughter. He faces trouble from all the elements to demonstrate the power of the room and that it should not be misunderstood.

A CU shows Cusack move to grasp his head in terror, his expression is one of fear and hatred. The backdrop swirls around Cusack as he clutches his head, this is used to demonstrate his confusion and that he is lost while emphasising that he is alone. Suspense is built as a result. An ECU of Cusack’s eye demonstrates his pupil has dilated; fear dilates the pupil following an adrenaline reaction to the body’s normal ‘fight or flight’ response in a situation. The red lines of the white of his eye balls demonstrate how tired and weary he is and suggest panic. The music stops and everything becomes silent which builds tension. Silence is conventional to the psychological horror genre; it is used as the calm before any significant action. The daughter enters the room, a wide shot shows her wearing white which indicates her purity. Her father wears contrasting clothes to portray him as a stereotypical middle-aged, middle-class man. A light shines on the daughter as she enters; it is the only source of light in the room. This is done intentionally to portray the daughter as angelic and illustrate that she is already dead and her ghost has returned- this is a significant moment in the plot as it the first real ghost that Cusack has seen. A CU shows Cusack screaming, a negative effect is once again used to heighten tension and demonstrate stereotypical horror.

The use of the negative effect is a recurrent theme throughout the narrative. They are used as conventional horror tools and also provide a binary opposition between normality and paranormality, life and death. They are intentionally used at times when Cusack experiences some form of anguish to heighten tension, portray horror and raise suspense for the audience. The Hotel is named ‘The Dolphin’. This is intentional as dolphins have connotations of innocence and purity which contrast heavily to the actions that take place in the room.