I hardly write reviews for horror movies but this one I just had to. One of the best film based on Stephen King's story. This movie sets a level in the minds of the audience. I would highly recommend this one who loves horror movies. This one has the perfect way of getting into your skin. The atmosphere, screenplay, cinematography and acting, everything will successfully send a chill down your spine. Its not the kind of horror film with ghastly faces and multiple voices. Its more about the mindplay or phobiatic. Something you would want and not want to see at the same time.

If the ending of the movie disappoints you, I highly recommend to watch the ending of the alternate version (Theatrical Release / Director's Cut). It adds a lot to the movie and I personally prefer the ending of the Theatrical Release.

It's not the same plot of course, but haunted hotels nonetheless, both based on books by the same author. I think there's a bit of Stephen King in Mike Enslin, played by John Cusack who in my opinion is an underrated actor because he truly delivers in this film (and others, but he is often given roles in crappy films).A cynical, drunkard writer frequents haunted places even though he doesn't believe in ghosts, but a part of him hopes to finally witness ghost activities in order to provide his readers authentic horror stories. He finally gets to experience it, but it's nothing like he'd imagined. The ordeal is eye-opening to him in two aspects: supernatural entities do exist (in the movie at least) and his own life. The true horror is mostly psychological, as this entity makes him relive the worst moments of his life: his daughter passing away from cancer, him leaving his wife afterwards and moving away to distance himself from anything that relates to the tragic event and his complex relationship with his father. He's filled with regret over a lot of life decisions and that is what breaks him, and also what compels him to survive and win the battle against the room. There are two alternative endings to this film, one where he lives and the other where he dies (obviously), but the one where he survives is superior because it would make sense after all his efforts to become a better person. I shamelessly admit that I love Samuel L Jackson regardless of the character he's portraying, and he was definitely a nice addition to the movie. The film is also not the typical jump scares cheesy thriller, and in that it stands out from the average thriller movies nowadays. I watched it too many times to count, definitely recommend this!

It has the flair of a psychedelic trip; albeit a trip or horrors – a very bad trip. But luckily for us the viewers, we are grounded in reality on the other side of the screen. Any "trippy" experience to be had is thankfully vicarious. But I'll admit that I found myself a bit exhausted by the film's end.I really liked this movie. It is a tense film with psychological drama mixed in with the horror. John Cusack is excellent. And Samuel L Jackson, though his screen time is limited, brings a welcoming performance. This movie is one of my favorites. See it! For a more in depth review of this film, please visit my website TheBooksofDaniel. The link is in my IMDb profile.