Review of The Apparition (2012) by Chris C — 06 Oct 2013

The reason I give this movie 3/5 stars bears no relation to the consensus opinion. The extreme gravity of the judgment combined with the characteristic succinctness of the genre of artistic criticism that constitutes the medium as it comes across to us viewers, seems incredibly harsh and a touch rash.

In terms of originality, I doubt anybody walked into this film expecting to see Star Wars or The Matrix; and while it may not smack of novelty it certainly has its share of charms. The manner in which the plot unfolds, for instance.

It may be a little rough around the edges, shifting point of view quite abruptly, but once you put the pieces together and the elements make sense The Apparition is quite an impressive film. If you're like me, in the minority, you may actually come to admire the direction and vision that went into its imperfect but still pretty good execution.

The pace is slow at times, sure, but the horror factor is high. *Spoiler alert: getting trapped between wall partitions is definitely high on my list of scariest ways to die.* The setting and computer design coordinator deserves lots of credit for putting together the scene in the house when everything gets flipped upside down, and what about the creature that crawls out of the shadows looking like something from the Grudge? The budget was no problem, the sky is the limit, so you know the effects are spot on.

Why Mr. Tomatohead is the score so low? What could possibly explain such a phenomenon? Some things in this world truly baffle me. This is one of them.