1408 ending explained: Mike has a happy ending in the original one

Mikael Håfström's 2007 hit psychological horror 1408 had four different endings. Only one got the cut for theatrical release because the creators thought it was the strongest of all. We'll see the original in this article and briefly explore the other three, so you can decide for yourself which is better.

In the film's original ending, the author Mike Enslin (John Cusack) gets out of the horror room alive, defeating it. After the events, he recounts everything that happens with him in the room to his wife, Lily (Mary McCormack). Thankfully, there's evidence to confirm whatever he tells her.

Other than John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Shalhoub, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and more are in supporting roles. The film was a critical and commercial success, currently having an 80% score on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

What happens in the original ending of 1408?

A still from 1408. (Image via Dimension Films)

Despite being a horror author, Mike Enslin is looking for real-life experiences because he doesn't really believe in the paranormal. So, he is directed to a hotel, where the manager initially tries to pour some sense into him that it is dangerous to be in that room.

No one has survived the stay for more than an hour there. And before that, 56 people had died trying. But he insists and finally enters room 1408. At first, everything appears normal, until a radio starts on its own and a countdown begins on a clock.

This is where things start to go left. He starts seeing ghosts, which include an apparition of her daughter Katie, who has passed away, and the voice of her wife, who isn't there. Now that room 1408 has made the author believe in the paranormal, all he needs is to get the hell out of this. However, that's not as easy as it seems.

The room tries everything to make Mike give up, but that doesn't happen. He finds him in a hospital, where it seems like it is finally over. But wait, this cannot be the end, as some healthy runtime remains of the film. It is then revealed that this is all the room's doing, and Mike is just hallucinating.

Mike's final rescue from the room happens when he sets it on fire using an improvised Molotov cocktail he made, and firefighters appear, pulling him out of there.

Following that, he reconciles with his wife, and both listen to it. And while they do that, they both hear Katie's voice, which confirms whatever Mike had to say.

What happens in other endings of the film?

1408 had three alternate endings planned, but given that they weren't deemed as strong as this one, they were discarded.

In one ending, Mike's wife isn't there. They don't reconcile, which implies that he made all this up. Or, well, a proper author, because, damn, he made all that up in his head.

Another of the 1408 endings was somewhat satisfactory as Mike dies and reunites with his daughter in the afterlife.