MovieChat Forums > 1408 (2007) Discussion > Was the engineer real?

Was the engineer real?

posted 13 years ago by canad-ian
28 replies | jump to latest

I don't remember this having been discussed already, but I think I have a valid point here. Enslin had already experienced a couple unsettling moments before he called to have the engineer fix the thermostat. Did he just imagine the engineer coming up to the room? I wonder this, because do you think the evil in the room would have really just let Enslin walk out of the room after he had been provoking it for the first 10-30 minutes that he was in the room? I'm thinking that door never actually opened and that he just imagined the engineer there. Anyone possibly think the same thing?

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[–] shadow1990 13 years ago

I think that it was real. I think the whole purpose of the scene was to make it clear to the audience that it is possible to escape the room.

[–] Amma24 13 years ago

OP, good question. I too think it was real simply because the engineer didn't want to step foot in that room. He wasn't playing around. After Enslin got the thermostat to work, the engineer was gone! Lmao!

Also, the clock scrambled to its 60:00 minute evil death countdown right after the engineer left and when Enslin shut the door.

[–] dissolute_dog 13 years ago

Agreed that the engineer was probably real, haha. For me, what also determined it was the way that the scene was edited/put together. There was an ominous sound when Enslin was having trouble opening the door for the engineer, but it abruptly cut short -- like a sigh of relief -- when he was able to get the door open. Also, when the engineer disappeared, Enslin ran to the doorway to look for him, and saw him turning the corner in the hallway (as if to show the audience that the engineer was indeed there to begin with; it's just that he quickly ran out of there as soon as his job was done).

[–] Danimal_77 10 years ago

The engineer wasn't just gone. He walked away in a hurry, because we see him at the end of the hall making the turn.

[–] jmhammerstein-980-842586 7 years ago

I think the maintenance person was fake. Him not wanting to go into the room, seems like it could have been the room trying to make him more nervous about it, to mess with him. The guy referred to him as a jack a-word, and was rude to him. That's not the kind of behavior you would expect from someone in that situation. I think that was the room trying to hurt Mike's feelings. The clock scrambled to the 60 minute countdown after the guy left, but Mike experienced strange stuff before the guy came, like the painting being crooked, the radio coming on, chocolate appearing on his pillow, and the toilet paper being fixed.

[–] Burning_Sosobra 7 years ago

Yes, because as we all know, the room just wanted to hurt Mike's "feelings". Uh...what? Of course the maintenance man was real. Once the Death Clock went to the 60 minute countdown, he was trapped. Not before then.

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[–] Danimal_77 11 years ago

It was ONLY possible to escape the room BEFORE the timer started. Once it started, it was OVER and there was NO ESCAPE.

[–] Blake4014 10 years ago

Why would the manager not have people check the room regularly? They obviously don't have an issue sending workers to that room, hence the engineer.

[–] jmbwithcats 13 years ago

I believe the reason he could get the door open was because he hadn't lost his grip on reality yet, or perhaps the room is giving him one last chance to run. Once he closes the door it's like the room says, okay, well, now you're mine. You either completely lose your mind, or you kill yourself, that's your only two options now.

In the end, most people accepted those two options, but Jack had too strong a will, he'd been through so much in his life already, and it had made him strong enough to fight back.

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[–] leviosa_cho 13 years ago

IMO engineer is real, remember Samuel L Jackson told him that they do routine cleaning, but each of them stay in the room for less than 10mins. So i suppose a number of people take turns to clean the room. Before the countdown of the clock, i think it's still in time (less than 10mins) for him to leave as he wants (thus he can open the door). :D

[–] lemystere 11 years ago

I think you're right.

[–] scannerdarkly (1274) 2 years ago

Remarkable! I never thought to examine how much time passes before the clock timer begins. It fits with the dialogue from Olin about staying briefly and with the door open and proves that it is possible to enter the room and even stay for some time before it traps you. If we didnt get this scene and it traps you instantly, then it would be hard for the audience to believe that anyone would ever step foot in the room and that it is ever cleaned.

[–] soulsk8ter225 9 years ago

Who is Jack?

** Rest in peace, Timothy Volkert (1988 - 2003) **

[–] AdmiralTugBenson 13 years ago

I thought he was real myself, but the more I think of it I wonder why he was given that opportunity to leave if he wanted. It's hard to say without knowing what the room's intentions were.

The thing with making the room hotter made me wonder if 1408 was just trying to get rid of him, and once that didn't work it simply decided it was time to get busy on him. And if that's the case, why try to spare him when it would go after the housekeeper for simply cleaning the room? Or maybe 1408 thought that if the engineer wasn't able to get in then he would get Olin and they might interfere with Mike's punishment before the room was finished. If I remember correctly they were able to get the maid out alive, but not before she had poked out her eyes. Clearly 1408 wants people to kill themselves, and if Mike didn't go to the door then it could have thrown a wrench in those plans.

"IF THE DEVIL HAD A NAME, IT WOULD BE CHUCK FINLEY!!"

[–] scannerdarkly (1274) 2 years ago

Maybe the cleaning lady from El Salvador said or did something while in the room that made it angry? Or maybe the room got desperate to hurt someone since it realized that the manager Olin would no longer rent the room to anyone again? After hurting the cleaning lady, and not being able to do it again for some time, it comes up with a plan to send the postcard to Enslin to get him to come to the room of his own accord.

Another thing I have considered, does the room only hurt GUILTY people? The room 1408 conjures a fake Olin to tell Enslin that "You shatter peoples hopes for an afterlife with your books. People want to believe in ghosts because it gives them hope, and you take that away from them" (paraphrased). So in that way, the room is telling Enslin that he deserves to be punished.

[–] vsbr25 12 years ago

The maintenance guy was real, all was real until then. I agree with Kupotek, that was Mike's last chance to get out of the room. He did not take it, though, he chose to stay and did that freely, so he kind of chose his fate. Free will.

[–] arshsingh1984 12 years ago

You could argue it either way. These kinds of films leave it up for interpretation. Interesting discussion, nonetheless!

[–] Blake4014 11 years ago

I was wondering this very question, then I happen upon it already been asked! Yeh, I was wondering, because it's clear any ordinary person would have been thoroughly spooked out and would have left the room by now(the engineer visit). But Mike being an ardent skeptic of such things, stayed in the room, even after it having played tricks on him.

Didn't the previous guests get such a warning, then suddenly leave when the radio or some other spookey event happened? If so, why not? That was a bit of a plot hole.

[–] luckiest_strike 11 years ago

i didn't really think about this until i came here. to me it was clear that the maintenance guy was real. it makes sense, because he doesn't enter and is actually scared of the room. if the room wanted to screw with him, it would had sent someone else.

also somehow i believe that opening that door somehow doesn't fit in with the room's mind games. i would send the wrong message. it's hard to describe that feeling but i just don't think the room would EVER show mike an open way out. show him a completely different environment just to tear it down, yes. but not itself in an open state.

to me the room just isn't "active", yet.

[–] Danimal_77 10 years ago

Your second sentence is not written well. It doesn't make much sense (maybe it did in your head when you typed it out).

[–] chicomary 9 years ago

Engineer was real. Mike was able to open the door, but after the engineer leaves and Mike injures himself and tries to leave, the door locks. There were several times where Mike could have left before the room took over (the engineer, the elevator door open right before he gets to the room), but the engineer was the last chance.

[–] Jackpot777 11 years ago

What i want to know is why he brought a tool box with him when he had absolutely no intention of going into the room and using them.

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[–] lemystere 11 years ago

He probably would have given the tool that was needed to Enslin. Also, he's an engineer, and that's his "tools of the trade." Like a doctor wearing his/her stethoscope around the neck (or brings a "doctor's bag" full of tools). Just because it's there, doesn't mean it gets used on every patient, every time he/she enters their room.

Anyway, in a previous post, I concluded that I believe the engineer was real. As others have pointed out in this thread: the man was afraid, he didn't want to enter - which would have been contradictory to the room's intentions, and they cut to a shot of him rounding the corner.

[–] CasseroleWorshipper 11 years ago

Or perhaps he intended to head straight to another room that had a problem and brought the toolbox so he wouldn't have to get it inbetween visiting the two rooms.
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[–] lemystere 11 years ago

Or he could have come from working in another room. In any event, someone with a job like that, brings their tools with them so they don't have to go and get them when they need them. I just remember his facial expressions. He looked scared as hell.

[–] TexasBEAST 10 years ago

In the DC, when Mike goes back to the doorway to offer the engineer a tip, the doorway is empty, but then Mike sticks his head out the doorway to look down the hall, and the engineer can be seen quickly turning the corner down another hall.

Engineer was fast as greased lightning to get the hell out of Dodge, sure.

But he was still real, IMO.