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Mike Enslin doesn't believe in "ghoulies, ghosties or long-legged beasties". He doesn't believe in phantoms, vampires or higher powers. In fact he's a cynical bastard who pretty much doesn't believe in anything. So he sure as hell does not believe Gerald Olin, manager of The Dolphin Hotel, when he says that room 1408 is an "evil f**king room".

Never one to shy away from a challenge at disproving the paranormal, Enslin stubbornly refuses to heed Olin's warnings and checks in. He doesn't care that no one has lasted more than an hour in 1408, that a maid who was locked in the bathroom for 10 minutes gouged her own eyes out and that there have been more than 50 deaths inside its four walls during the past 95 years. To him, it's a room, nothing more than fodder for his next less-than-best-selling guide to haunted hotels.

So he doesn't stress too much when the thermostat acts up, nor when the radio starts randomly blaring songs by The Carpenters (yes, the room is that evil). But when he inadvertently injures himself and discovers that he cannot actually leave 1408 his initial pig-headedness starts crumbling and his skepticism quite literally comes back to haunt him.

But room 1408 offers more than cheap tricks and cheesy '70s pop music. It has a few shockers in store for Enslin as he is confronted with his own demons and forced to reconsider his cynicism.

Based on a Stephen King short story that the renowned horror author never really intended to publish, '1408' is easily one of the eeriest and creepiest bone chillers to come to the big screen. It relies heavily on the claustrophobia and sinister lure inherent in hotels, never allowing for shoddy "monster-jumping out of the closet" thrills or torture porn, which has become so rampant and apparently popular in the horror genre. Instead, a subtle, colder approach is taken, resulting in a frightening journey of human paranoia and psychosis. It's far more frightening than any witch, werewolf or killer clown could ever be.

So, in that respect Enslin is right: there really are no "ghoulies ghosties or long-legged beasties" but then again, he should probably be concentrating on more important things, like whether he will last the hour.

And what happens if he does?