This Stephen King Horror Movie Should Have Used Its Alternate Ending

The Big Picture

• 1408 offers different endings that tackle the theme of grief in unique ways, leaving audiences with a mix of tension and relief.
• The theatrical ending gives a glimmer of hope and resolution, with Enslin surviving and being reunited with his wife.
• The original ending from the director’s cut and Stephen King’s intended ending are both darker, emphasizing the inescapable and life-altering nature of grief.

Horror movie trends ebb and flow with the seasons. Sometimes, the focus is on blood and guts; sometimes, it’s elevated stories with thematic undertones that require a second or third thought. Whatever the trend is, it seems that Stephen King and his stories remain a constant solid basis for horror stories. One of King’s adapted short stories of the same name, 1408, is one of those horror films that sticks with you after you watch it. Instead of a typical blood and guts horror, 1408 chills viewers to the bone with the supernatural aspects and so much tension throughout.

Mikael Håfström’s version of King’s short story is one of the best adaptations of his work. The 2007 film stars John Cusack as Mike Enslin and Samuel L. Jackson as Gerald Olin. Enslin is a prolific author who explores and debunks supernatural phenomena nationwide. Enslin checks into the Dolphin Hotel and ignores warnings from Olin, the hotel manager. Instead, Enslin stays in the haunted room, number 1408, and learns the real meaning of terror. 1408‘s default ending is the director’s cut, but it wasn’t the ending shown in theaters. Had the director gone with the director’s or King’s finale from the original story instead of the theatrical ending, 1408 would’ve been even more morose and impactful, leaving with the audience without a glimmer of hope.

The Theatrical Ending of ‘1408’ Isn’t As Depressing

The theatrical ending, while equally sad, provides a small possibility of resolution and hope to viewers. This ending includes Enslin setting the hotel room on fire and subsequently being rescued by firefighters after breaking the door down. He is then reunited with his wife and he plays back his trusty tape recorder that he uses to keep track of his supernatural visits. On the tape, Enslin and his wife hear the voice of their deceased daughter. Hearing this solidifies that his supernatural experiences in Room 1408 were, in fact, very real and not just a hallucination. This ending allows audiences to take a deeper look at grief and relate Enslin’s experiences of being trapped in a room with the grief of losing his daughter. However, Enslin’s survival does bring a bit of resolve to the film and cuts some of the despair the movie created.

What Was the Alternate Ending of ‘1408’?

It would’ve represented a different feeling if 1408 had gone with Håfström’s director’s cut. The original ending that Håfström wanted was found to be too depressing with test audiences, so he changed it to what we see when we watch the DVD or stream it. In that ending, Enslin doesn’t survive. He still lights the room on fire, but instead of being rescued, he dies among the embers. At his funeral, Olin shows up to give Enslin’s wife and publisher a box of his things, including the tape recorder he uses throughout the film. His wife doesn’t want the gift, trying to rid herself of his supernatural ventures, so Olin takes it back to his car with him.

He can’t help himself and his curiosity, so he presses play on the tape recorder. He hears Enslin’s voice, which is then interrupted by some ghostly sounds and his daughter’s crying voice. Olin looks at the graveyard near his car and sees a girl calling for her father, and then is startled to see Enslin’s burned body in his backseat. Enslin’s spirit disappears, and then we see scenes from the hotel where he can hear his daughter calling his name as he walks towards the door. Enslin doesn’t survive, and he perishes like the rest of those who spent time in 1408, but we still get that tiny little injection of positivity since he gets to reunite with his daughter in the end.

What About Stephen King’s Ending to ‘1408’?

Finally, there is a third possible ending for the film, and that is the ending that King had intended. With this version, Enslin still survives in the end. He still sets the room on fire, but another hotel guest hears him crying for help and brings a bucket of ice to douse the flames he set ablaze. The guest helps him out of the room, allowing Enslin to escape its demonic forces. After surviving, Enslin doesn’t live with any resolve or hope as he did in the theatrical or director’s cut. Instead, he stops writing and becomes alone and afraid of everything, including the dark, the outside world, and anything related to 1408. If the test audiences thought the director’s cut was too depressing, it’s likely a good thing that Håfström didn’t consider using King’s original ending. However, ending without resolution or that light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel feeling can be incredibly effective for horror lovers.

All the Endings of ‘1408’ Tackle Grief

All the endings of 1408 dissect and approach grief, just in different ways. The ending we got in theaters allowed viewers to feel the tension and despair throughout the movie, but they got to loosen their grip and sigh a breath of relief that Enslin made it out alive and reunited with his wife. That ending had a more symbolic approach to how grief can feel all-encompassing and like the walls can cave in around you. The director’s cut fills us with a little more dread since the protagonist doesn’t survive, but knowing that Enslin desperately misses his daughter and eventually reunites with her is a little sigh of relief.

That ending approaches grief from the perspective that we never truly get rid of it — we learn how to manage and deal with it, and occasionally, it can be passed along to those closest to us. King’s ending shows audiences that grief is inescapable and can sometimes become life-altering. His daughter’s death affected Enslin so much that he sought out supernatural situations to fill the void. One of those situations, Room 1408, caused him to feel like the grief and terror were too much to face, so staying in his rabbit hole of a house is the only way to make sure that he won’t have to deal with it. Either way, the alternative ending for 1408 would’ve had a much more impactful ending than the theatrical edition, albeit without the possibility of happiness.

‘1408’ and ‘The Shining’ Are Mirrors of Each Other

King has another famous hotel-centered book and movie under his belt. You’ve probably heard of it, and if you haven’t, I implore you to check it out. The Shining is another lesson in dealing with grief and the loss of self. In an interview with Liljas Library, King says that 1408 looks like The Shining, but it’s hot instead of cold. King does a magnificent job of exploring the day-to-day terrors that all humans face but turns them up a notch into paranormal experiences. At some point in life, everyone experiences the loss of someone close to them or loses their path and gets buried by expectations. While unique and different, both films can come together to be a catharsis for individuals on their journey to healing and reconciliation. The Shining is a descent into madness, while 1408 explores Dante’s Inferno-esque layers of hell. Funny enough, both movies have alternate endings that we will likely never see, but we can only imagine how twisted they could’ve been.

1408 is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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