Apartment 143 (2011)

You can tell that some film makers really like the Found Footage format when the footage isn’t even lost! That’s the case in “Apartment 143”, a film where the events are captured on mounted cameras around an apartment as well as two hand held recorders. When the film wraps up, the film crew leaves one last camera rolling so they can explain everything later. Hmmm….. “Apartment 143” was a decent film but nothing special; it’s not the kind of movie that I would even throw into the DVD player and have on as background noise. The movie is full of complicated ghost hunting equipment that almost feels a little bit on the excessive side, but I think that’s the point they might have been going for. After everything is said and done, the big twist at the end leaves the viewer a bit confused and saying “that’s it?”

A doctor of some sort and his two assistants respond to a claim of ghost activity in a nearly abandoned apartment building. The residents of apartment 143 is a single father and his two children, a 16 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. The family is a bit dysfunctional and likes to fight in front of their guests. The doctor and his team interview the father and son and bring in various pieces of equipment. Throughout the film, the two assistants become excited when they begin to think that they might be onto a real ghost encounter, even if the doctor never really reacts to anything. Finally they figure out what’s going on and solve the issues. The End.

Yawn.

The doctor’s character was the main distraction for me. Even if he knew what was going on, he never really seemed that engaged in the situation. Too calm and collected and maybe there just to collect a paycheck? The other distraction in the movie was the ending; I’m not satisfied with how it ended and I wish they had chosen a different way to wrap everything up.

Favorite moment – the scene that had the only real scare, where they are all standing in the dark and….