While researching the MGM Grand Corporation for a business project, I came across the famous MGM Grand Fire of 1980. A fire broke out in the Las Vegas hotel and casino, killing 85 people. In the wake of this disaster, MGM Grand purchased $170 million in retroactive liability insurance to help cover the costs of potential liability claims resulting from the fire. To this day, it remains one of the biggest tragedies in Nevada. We forget that hotels are the most gruesome death sites around. Hotels are a very popular destination for ghastly deeds, including murders, overdoses and suicides. Luxury hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton and Mandarin Oriental try to cover up their dubious reputations, while some quirky bed and breakfasts in New England play up the ambiguity that surrounds horrific murders from years ago.
The movie 1408 is a Stephen King adaptation about an author (John Cusack) whose young daughter has died. He travels around in a daze to different haunted hotels, staying the night and writing trashy paranormal stories. Upon receiving a mysterious warning via postcard, he decides to stay at the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, where the room 1408 is known for its bloodstained history. Despite the warnings of the general manager, he books the room, and the bizarre and terrifying experiences begin when he finds himself locked in. As Stephen King haunted hotel movies go, 1408 does not come close to the brilliance of the Shining, but it still conveys the claustrophobia and vulnerability that come with staying at hotels. John Cusack’s performance is captivating; he singlehandedly carries the whole movie. The only other real main character is the room 1408, an entity that changes constantly and seems to be able to read his mind.
The next time you check in to a hotel…
Its always a weird feeling when you check into a hotel, because we give up so much control in them. At home we have our rooms and homes built specifically to our every need but in a hotel you are merely another nightly tenet like those thousands before you. This loss of control is a huge part of why many people are semi-scared of hotels. We are out of our comfort zones and have to adapt to a scenario where we know nothing of the past experiences. This makes them perfect settings for horror films of all types.
ReplyDeleteWhen you check into a hotel room, have you ever wondered who previously slept on your mattress and what they may have done there? What about that stain on the carpet that the cleaning personnel clearly failed to remove? Where did it come from? Who done it?
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many times the hotel staff may clean a room to create an illusion of cleanliness and freshness, they cannot get rid of the room's history. Just the thought of what may have gone on before you checked in is enough to inspire writing a horror novel. Who knows, maybe Stephen King had a really bad experience in a motel one night and decided to write Room 1408.
Ugh...
I always wonder about the previous occupants of my hotel rooms, especially when I check in alone. Unsurprisingly, I have trouble falling asleep. Even though the cleaning staff go above and beyond to create an atmosphere of cleanliness, there's still something about the secret history of hotels that puts everybody on edge. The concept of relinquishing control in a foreign space occupied by memories is definitely horror movie material. Ever since Alfred Hitchcock set the standard for hotel horror in 1960 with the infamous Bates Motel in Psycho, numerous sub-par movies have centered around this concept. I can think of Hostel (2005) and Vacancy (2007), but they don't hold a candle to the classics in terms of breaking new ground in the genre.
ReplyDeleteI think in a lot of ways, the same not only goes for hotel rooms, but for dorm rooms, apartments, and hospital rooms as well. We look at these things and certainly are a little creeped out at first by random stains on the carpet or little knacks that certainly look a bit peculiar. Therefore, the focus is often to try to make things more comfortable for ourselves by getting rid of such uncertainty and strangeness. Why else would a people bring along little things like pictures or posters to their dorm rooms here. Fear is in the unknown, but once we're adjusted, it becomes comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI think the setting of the hotel has a lot to do with how we perceive the previous occupants of the rooms. No one walks into a resort villa on the Disney property expecting anything but cleanliness and family environment. The idea of thinking strange things might have happened in the room before you such as murder or suicide, are so distant in the mind that they would come off as comical if you tried to ask the bellhop about the room's history. On the other hand, the one-story motel in the middle of a small town with a minimal lighting conjures the image that many people of the lower parts of society have used and abused these rooms for anything from drug trades to prostitution. The feeling of security in a hotel clearly comes from its setting and I think Stephen King understands this about his audience's fears. For instance, would the Tower of Terror at Disney be so scary if it was a posh hotel with colorful decor?
ReplyDeleteI've never really thought about it but after reading this post I realized that I'm not a huge fan of hotels. Sure, they were fun when I was a kid on trips and I got to run around like a madman. That was fun then, but now that I'm older the hotel environment to me seem yucky. Everything seems put on and too perfect. Maybe it is compensation for the crazy shit that goes on in their rooms from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI guess I've been spoiled over my childhood, staying at the Ritz-Carlton's and Mandarian Oriental's of the world, where the "dubious reputations" are covered up, so I really never thought too much about previous occupants and crimes that could have been committed in my beautiful suite. One thing that always does come to mind regarding hotel rooms is the infamous "celebrity drug overdose." Why does it always seem that celebrities overdose in hotel rooms? My theory is that when a junkie decides they're about to do a lot of drugs, they want to get away from their families and "real life" and thus check into a hotel. The "real life" is what druggies are trying to get away from, and spending a night in a hotel is the perfect way to escape reality. Think about it, vacations don't feel like real-life. When I go to Disney with my family, I feel like I'm in a completely different world; I'm not thinking about normal things like homework and going to the gym, but rather I'm infatuated with the vacation at-hand. Celebrities overdose in hotel rooms all the time because they're staying in that specific hotel because they want to escape reality.
ReplyDelete1408 is a really great movie. And it's definitely designed to tap into fears about loss of control and isolation. It's strange that knowing you are just one of many to stay in a hotel room can make you feel more isolated. If anything, being surrounded by other people should make you feel more connected than usual, but that's not really how it works. I guess the temporary nature and the essentially anonymous people before you tap into fears about safety.
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