1408 has four alternate endings, all bringing a unique twist to Mike Enslin’s plot, and each 1408 the ending explained a different resolution for Mike. Based on a short story by Stephen King, 1408 centers on horror author Mike Enslin, who visits haunted places, hoping to capture the paranormal and write a book about them. To his dismay, none of the so-called haunted rentals give him concrete proof of the existence of the supernatural. However, one day, Mike receives a postcard warning him not to visit Dolphin No.’s room. 1408.
Out of pure curiosity, Mike decides to visit the hotel and is surprised that the hotel manager, Gerald Olin, tries to convince him to stay out of the room. Mike refuses to comply with the hotel manager’s requests and even threatens to file a legal complaint to acquire the room key. Initially everything seems fine after he enters the room, but the longer he stays there, but he finds himself living in a literal and metaphorical hell. The final four show how things end for Mike.
Explanation of the 1408 theatrical ending
Mike has a happy ending
In 1408In Mike’s theatrical ending, Mike sets the room on fire and survives after firefighters rescue him. With what follows, Mike even mends his relationship with his wife and reconciles with her. As Mike goes through his belongings recovered from the burned room, he finds his mini-recorder, which he used to narrate his experience.
To his surprise, Mike hears Katie’s voice on the recorder, confirming that everything he experienced in the room is real. His wife also listens to the recording and begins to believe everything he claims to have experienced in the room.
Alternate 1408 Ending Explained
Mike’s wife was removed from this ending
In an alternative version of a similar ending, only Mike reacts when he hears his daughter’s voice on the recorder, while his wife does not recognize it. This changes a few things about the ending. This shows that Mike’s wife didn’t listen or understand that what happened to him was real. This means they can’t reconcile the loss together and the knowledge that her daughter’s memory is real. It also disregards some of the experience, as it just shows that he is listening, and it could all be in his head.
1408 Director’s Cut Ending Explained
Mike dies but reunites with his daughter
The ending in 1408The director’s cut differs significantly from the one that hit theaters. According to reports, director Mikael Håfström changed the film’s ending before releasing it in theaters because test audiences were dissatisfied with it. At this end, Mike dies in the living room fire before firefighters can rescue him. In the final scene, Olin tries to give the box of Mike’s belongings to Lily after Mike’s funeral, but she refuses to accept it.
With what follows, Mike grabs the girl’s hand and walks away, implying that he was reunited with his daughter after her death.
Moments later, when Olin goes through Mike’s belongings, he finds the recorder and hears Katie’s voice on it. That’s when he notices a girl walking in the cemetery grass before Mike’s burned apparition appears in the backseat of the car. With what follows, Mike grabs the girl’s hand and walks away, implying that he was reunited with his daughter after her death. In the final scene, Mike looks around the room while smoking a cigarette. When his daughter calls out to him, he disappears behind the front door, suggesting he has defeated the room.
Final quarter of 1408 explained
Mike dies without a happy ending
The final room is darker than all the others. Mike also dies in the fire in this one, and his ghost is never seen again.. After meeting Lily, her editor, Sam, reads the story from Mike’s manuscript, which describes his experience in the room. In the final scene of this ending, the film repeats a quote from a previous scene where Mike’s father appears in the room and warns him: “As you are, I was. As I am, so you will be.“
This ending highlights that despite his best efforts to change, Mike followed in his father’s footsteps and never changed his life, which likely kept him trapped in Room 1408 forever, like other troubled souls.
The Circles of Hell in 1408 Explained
Mike died early and began his descent into hell
Even though it appears that Mike experiences a random set of terrors during his stay in 1408, several visual clues and story beats in the film suggest that he is experiencing the nine circles of hell. Mike’s story reveals that after tragically losing his daughter to cancer, he struggled to maintain his faith. Flashbacks show how his relationship with his wife deteriorated after the death of his daughter because her wife told her stories about heaven instead of encouraging her to fight her illness. These conflicts with his wife ended up leading him to move away from her.
In an early scene of the film, Mike almost drowns while surfing before a surfer saves him. Although 1408 portrays that Mike just had a brush with misfortune, Mike actually died, marking his foray into the first circle of hell: limbo. Afterwards, Mike ends up at The Dolphin Hotel and checks into room 1408, where he descends deeper into hell. Each time the clock resets and the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” starts playing, Mike experiences the punishments of a new circle of hell. Each new circle reflects a sin he committed after his daughter’s death.
From being condemned to lie in vile mud for his gluttonous alcoholism to experiencing extreme bedroom temperatures for his rejection of faith, Mike faces it all during his stay in 1408. After his journey through Hell, Mike, like Dante, ascends Mount Purgatory. , where he finally seeks redemption. After his cathartic journey through hell, Mike becomes a changed man and, for the first time, begins to live selflessly.
Although the room incessantly coerces him to end his own life, Mike resists the urge to make another selfish decision and instead sets the room on fire to prevent him from attracting his wife. With this, Mike successfully redeems himself and, in the theatrical ending, finds himself in a metaphorical paradise on Earth. In the final scene, his daughter’s voice on the recorder reminds him to maintain his newfound faith.
How many people died in 1408
56 people died in room 1408
Before visiting the central hotel, Mike researched the room’s history and calculated the number of people who could have died in room 1408 at The Dolphin. However, upon arriving at the hotel, manager Olin reveals that the number is much higher than he thought. He tells him that in the last 95 years, 56 people have died in room 1408. As many deaths in the room were from natural causes, they were not reported by the mainstream media.
The Ending of 1408 Explains Why Mike Writes Horror
His daughter’s death made him reject God
1408The redemptive ending explains that Mike became a horror writer because, after his daughter’s death, he could not help but rule out the existence of God. His sense of faith crumbled, which caused him to adopt a nihilistic perspective towards the world around him. After leaving his wife, who taught his daughter to be faithful before she died, Mike made it his life’s mission to prove that God does not exist.
Near the end of 1408Mike decides to stop writing because his faith has been restored
His skepticism ended up making him a vulnerable target for room 1408. By the end of 1408Mike decides to stop writing because his faith has been restored and he has no reason to denounce the supernatural or god.
How 1408 is different from Stephen King’s original story
The ending is totally different
Compared to Stephen King’s short story, 1408The narrative of is more nuanced in the sense that ties everything from Mike’s past traumas to his passion for writing with the room. Stephen King’s short story, on the other hand, is based solely on instilling in the reader a fear of the unknown, describing the strange projections and apparitions that the room presents to Mike. Even the end of the short story is significantly different from the theatrical conclusion of the film.
As Mike leaves the room a changed man in the 1408 end of the film and later hears his dead daughter’s voice on the recorder, his agent hears strange noises on the same tape in the final scene of the original short story.
Which ending of 1408 is the best
All but one give Mike a happy ending
The four different 1408 The endings offer a different take on Mike’s fate, and preference for one over the other depends on one’s belief in whether Mike deserves a happy ending or not. Of the endings, the one that offers Mike no chance at a happy ending is probably the worst of the four. Mike dying but never receiving any final resolution – good or bad – leaves the film convoluted and confusing. Showing Mike going to hell, which probably happened in that ending, would have provided at least some closure.
The one where he lives, and he and his wife hear their daughter’s voice on tape, shows the best ending for Mike.
However, the other three endings offer Mike a somewhat positive ending. The one where he lives, and he and his wife hear their daughter’s voice on tape, shows the best ending for Mike. He knows his daughter was there and his wife understands too, saving their marriage. The one where she doesn’t listen offers a more confusing ending, and it’s easy to see why the director chose the one where Mike and his wife understand each other.
The best ending is the alternate ending, where Mike dies but is reunited with his daughter in the afterlife. Because it’s a dark and disturbing horror film, most fans are used to endings that aren’t happy, but at least have a satisfying conclusion. In Drag me to hellthe protagonist ends up sucked into Hell, which works because the audience sees it happen. The depressing 1408 the ending didn’t even show that. The one with Mike dying but moving on to the afterlife saw him with his daughter. This makes the ending sad, but with a real conclusion.
How the end of 1408 was received
Fans remain divided over which ending was better
Stephen King 1408 It’s not one of the author’s most talked-about adaptations, but it has garnered a loyal following among fans of supernatural ghost films. The film has a Certified Fresh rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lower rating of 61%many of the votes go to the theatrical version of the film and that specific ending. An example of Rotten Tomatoes user not sure about that ending wrote: “The film will make you question what is real and what is not, but the ending will leave you with more questions than answers.“
However, when looking at the different endings revealed by the home video release, it’s best to look at the Reddit topics where people discussed differences. In a thread where the OP had no idea there were different endings, a commenter called IHadFunOnce mentioned that the theatrical ending was changed on home video, which they didn’t like:
“I hate it because I REALLY loved the ending where he survives. The look on his face when he lets his wife here record everything that happened is priceless.”
Editor roverandrover6 disagrees, writing, “I prefer the one where Enslin dies in the fire. Given