Review

A Widower, Alan, his teenage daughter Caitlin, and his young son Benny move to an inner city apartment due to reported poltergeist activity at their family home following the death of Alan's wife. Unfortunately for the Whites, our haunted family, the paranormal entity follows them to the City, who you gonna call? Doctor Helzer and his University team of Paul and Ellen duly arrive and set up their equipment to monitor for any paranormal activity. Almost immediately there is a series of loud bangs heralding the start of a supernatural onslaught on the Whites and the University researchers.

As the investigation continues over a weekend there appears to be two candidates for the position of poltergeist, Mrs White or a Teacher from Benny's school who died. But the answer might be a bit more sinister and involve either a creepy kid or an emotionally disturbed teenage chick. The White family are clearly being haunted, but by who and why is the question Apartment 143 poises the Audience. An intense adult orientated horror movie ensues that shows more than the usual intelligence.

Another Spanish flick in that Nation's assault on the horror genre after the Rec franchise stormed the beaches. Once again we are sort of talking "found footage" though I would be more apt to put this movie in the mockumentary basket, even though at stages it does include that nauseating camera shaking we all hate. Surprisingly Director Carles Torrens has opted for an English language movie rather than a sub titled Spanish release, which is kind of sad as it brings the movie to the attention of the sort of person who normally wouldn't go near anything in a foreign language that requires the emotional input of reading. Yeap Apartment 143 is being attacked by the sort of online cretins who don't seem to get movie structure or horror tropes or plot development. The movie requires a bit of thought, and unfortunately for the Producers it's an intellectual adult movie hence it doesn't work for the teen audience that want things simply on repeat rinse cycle. Let's see where Apartment 143 gets it right and why horror is currently wallowing at the box office.

Writer Rodrigo Cortés isn't giving anything away with the movie, the paranormal activity is open to interpretation and there's a whole bunch of angles that could be explored. For the initial block of the movie we're pretty much talking poltergeist house party, and that's one effective approach that had me white knuckled and tongue tied. From loud bangs on the ceiling, through unexplained telephone calls and knocks on the wall, to things being moved around we're talking classic tropes being dished up in a pretty delicious brew of haunted house mayhem. Cortés cleverly includes an emotional teenage chick in the White household, apparently a necessary ingredient for poltergeist activity - see what I mean about this one having some intelligence in the writing. However he muddles the waters to awesome effect with the youngest White Benny claiming he can see and hear his deceased mother, and there's some talk about the initial haunting beginning after the death of a Teacher at the kids' school. There are not going to be easy answers here, hence why a lot of people simply write this one off as apparently the requirement is for everything to be explained down so the lowest common denominator can understand the nuances.

An Adult intellectual horror movie in the modern age, excuse me while I text the details to my possie

It's during the second block of the movie that any trite theories we may be developing, and yes I was noting teenage emotional girl equals poltergeist shenanigans, are dispelled as the plot takes a sudden curve into something a lot darker. We enter a weird possession situation that goes in completely strange directions. While it's subjective as to who or what is doing the possession, the inference is good old Mom is visiting from beyond the grave, and a smirk the possessed person gives might be a hint those taking attention will pick up on. There's a deeply disturbing suggestion that Mr White may be more attentive to his daughter than one might reasonably expect. Trying to be coy here folks, the suggest is there and certainly Doc Helzer is across it. But there are also a few other weird diversions that muddy the water and further confuse the Audience. Benny claims to be able to see and talk to his mother, after a brief statement of this the notion isn't explored further, and what to make of the final scene? Once again we are not being given any answers.

There are a few weak points to Apartment 143 that are unfortunately face palming moments. After an episode of nocturnal possession and supernatural violence everyone sits down to breakfast the next day as if nothing untoward happened. Man I really don't want to meet the families of these people if this constitutes normal night time activity! Equally Doctor Helzer seems to steadfastly refuse the notion of any paranormal activity even though it has been recorded and sheer mayhem is going down in front of his eyes, there's sceptic and then there's dumb as a box of hammers kids. The script needed another edit for mine with a view to a killing off a few ideas that simply don't work in any dramatic fashion what so ever.

On the bright side the structure of the movie should fit like a well worn glove if a fan of this particular sub genre. The haunting gradually worsens from loud noises, to phones and door bells ringing that have no explanation, through manifestations, to finally out and out mayhem as the situation deteriorates over the weekend. While I'm all for the gradual tightening of the screws, is the "don't poke the supernatural with a stick" a recurrent horror theme recently? - Carles Torrens seemingly rushes the process. The movie rocks along at warp factor nine rather than gradually developing pace. Nice claustrophobic touches however with the action going down in pretty much a single location, there is no attempt at giving the Audience a break from the escalating terror on their screens.

Not entirely sure Director Torrens' scare tactics will work for everyone, yes we're talking a whole bunch of jump scares interspersed with the sort of swinging camera tension that the Paranormal Activity franchise has almost made a trademark - a camera swings through a room repeatedly, you know something is coming at you but you don't know from where. I certainly have to admit to jumping a few times as I wasn't expecting some of the scares that went down. Helping out is Torrens excellent understanding of tension and atmosphere. The film is a vision in how to make things as bleak and grunge as possible.

Gorehounds will be sadly disappointed here, though there are some disturbing images going down. Equally T&A is not on the agenda folks, which is just as well really, you'll know what I mean when you catch a viewing of the movie.

Overall the acting was of a pretty high standard and except for a few plot problems I was a believer in what I was watching.

While Apartment 143 isn't for everyone if you enjoy movies of the Paranormal Activity type and are happy with adult orientated drama that doesn't give away every single plot point then this movie is worth having a look at. I quite enjoyed the experience, even while I was scratching my head on occasion, and for sure would catch anything else the Director wants to send my way. Recommended movie, but be warned if you require complete closure than this movie is apt to be irritating.