Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, Tony Shalhoub, Mary McCormack, Margot Leicester, Paul Birchard, Walter Lewis
Question: What made room 1408 so special? That it's numbers added up to 13, and it was on the 13th floor? Wouldn't that also make room 1426 evil as well? Or was the room just inherently evil?
Answer: It's possible there is no 1426. The rooms may only go up to 1410 or 1415.
Revealing mistake: The quick shot of the Bible landing in the drawer is reversed. (00:29:20)
Mike Enslin: Let's "Encyclopedia Brown" this bitch.
Question: In the office scene where Mike and Olin are speaking of all the deaths that have occurred in room 1408 they say a specific number for each type of death. I added all the numbers up and got 43 but Olin said there had been 56 deaths total. Is my addition wrong or was is it a coincidence that there were 13 deaths they didn't speak of?
Answer: After they recite the types of deaths and the number attributed to each one Mr. Olin also says that there have also been natural causes of death as well which surprises Mike. The natural causes of death add up to the other 13 deaths.
First, I don't have a great memory - I had to re-watch the movie, writing down the numbers: 7 jumpers, 4 overdoses, 5 hangings, 3 mutilations, 2 strangulation's plus 22 natural deaths - I get 43 total, but later we hear of a man that drowned in his chicken soup... which fits none of the categories mentioned including natural. There is also mention of heart attacks, which I don't know if you would categorizes these as natural considering the circumstances. That is to say, they just didn't detail all 56 deaths. The book might, and mind you a book made into a movie is always too fast paced with so much detail crammed into 2 hours... there is really no time to digest all the material. I'm guessing this is a much better read. Also this movie PRE-supposes that a person understands a lot of things... I had to look the stuff up after the first viewing... then came to this site (as a means of looking some stuff up). Here's my low down - after the fast forward second viewing, literally taking notes: 1. The room is not haunted - something in the room is evil; this is stated when the hotel owner has conversations with writer just outside of the office on route to the elevator 2. The writer expresses this is : the seventh circle - the 7th circle is where those that committed the following violations are punished: a. Crimes against neighbours b. crimes against self >suicide c. Crimes against God, Art (grand daughter of God) and nature 3. The writer has pleaded Guilty as charged in the hotel managers office to charges of: believing in nothing (this would be God - and he states so later) and believing in no-one but himself 4. The writer opens the bible - and the page falls to Nathans Parable -2 Samuel 12 ==> had to look this one up - this is about being judged - mostly about a man who kills another and takes his wife - it's about judging yourself and paying for your sins. In this story the wife brings forth a child that god strikes down with sickness and the child dies... among other things. 5. It is generally believed that there are 3 things that allow for better mind control - or mind opening/bending experiences: a. Sugar b. Alcohol c. Drugs ==> he was given a bottle of alcohol which he consumes as well as chocolate squares on the bed - presumably the evil force has provided these to allow better mind control 6. All the pictures show some form of evil: the Schooner lost at sea, should we presume an act of evil in addition to potential future acts of cannibalism? The Hunt: which is where I believe the hotel owner originated from: escaping from a pore in the picture - he was the hunted (no glass covering on the picture) and he provided the alcohol - he also tries to stop the writer from taking the room, saying he doesn't have to do this (punish himself) and/or the manager senses the end of the room and potentially his existence Lastly the old women reading to the three children... I just can't make this one fit...which is actually when I started to review the relevance to evil there. The writer says the children are deranged...? 7. The demons all originate from the pictures - I think; the manager of the hotel, the knife wielding woman (schooner) . I'm unsure about the guy in the vent. That is to say, the pictures have brought the evil to the room; and the room has become a room where those who should be punished in the 7th circle are. 8. To prove the punishment room theory: in the file folder, as the writer approaches the room 408 - the notes indicate a man with the notation that: his brother was eaten by wolves on the Connecticut Turnpike - I'm guessing there was an act of cannibalism there. 9. Further to prove the punishment room theory - acts against art are really usury and charging interest (loan shark style - high rates to those that are desperate) - we see a business man jump - which later appears to be the man from the newspaper article that says: Dec. 06, 1938 Chicago factory owner leaps from bridge - stating Financial issues Ultimately this room is about judging yourself, deciding your own punishment and the evil forces dispensing the punishment. Think about the maid that only blinds herself with scissors, and the writer who has presumably already paid for most of his sins (daughter dies) but is still forced to suffer heat, cold, drowning, mental illness, isolation etc.
Answer: Olin simply did not list all of the causes/cases. He mentions the causes of 21 deaths before Mike cuts him off. He then mentions the 22 natural death cases. By no coincidence, the number of cases mentioned, 43, subtracted from the number of deaths Olin says actually occurred, 56, is 13. Afterwards, he reveals one more cause attributed to the unmentioned 13 deaths: drowning.
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Answer: Like many of King's work, it's never explained why the room is evil, it's just something that resides in the room that is evil. The fact that it's on the 13th floor and 1408 adds up to 13 just makes it worse, superstitiously, so perhaps that's why the evilness chose that room. But the 13's don't really contribute to the events inside the room, so other rooms aren't affected.
Bishop73