10 Horror Movies Set In Only One Location

10. 1408

You know it’s good news when the names "Hot Tub Time Machine hero John Cusack" and "horror icon Stephen King" show up together, not to mention, er, Derailed director Mikael Hafstrom.

Yes alright, so he may not have as illustrious an onscreen career as the Con Air star and Children of the Corn scribe (no one mention Maximum Overdrive), but Hafstrom was responsible for Derailed’s barnstorming final confrontation between Vincent Cassell and Clive Owen, and it’s that talent for gripping thrills he brings to this entire rollercoaster ride of a horror.

The film follows professional paranormal debunker Mike Enslin, who recently suffered a terrible bereavement (one guess whether that will come up again at the scariest possible interval), and insists, despite warnings from Samuel L. Jackson’s stern manager, on staying in The Dolphin Hotel’s titular room 1408.

What follows is nothing but Enslin attempting to survive the night as the room throws gradually larger and more disturbing horrors at him the more he tries to escape. From ghostly visitations, to ghouls in the vents, to vanishing ledges and impossible floor plans, this is a rare genuinely scary horror which can boast a scene featuring Jackson talking from inside a mini fridge.

Just make sure it’s the theatrical cut you’re watching and not the director’s—this isn’t The Mist, and you don’t need an ending even darker than the one King himself authored.