Apartment 1303 movie review, and other stuff
Random incident of the past few days: On Tuesday night, me and Euan actually managed to - shock! horror! - get to bed before midnight, mainly because I was feeling like shit.
...Then we were woken up by a couple having a domestic in the middle of the night, in the middle of their garden. Typical. Just bloody typical.
Yesterday evening, me and Euan sat down and watched the J-horror film Apartment 1303.
Overall, I loved it. It was rather predictable and clichéd in places, but the film was a lot of fun, and jam-packed with some great jump moments. I could usually tell when such moments were coming up, but, when they did happen, fuck, did I jump. XD
However, some of the actresses playing the "hey, guess what, we're all gonna die horribly after five minutes of screen time"-type girls were somewhat... wooden in the face of terror, but, eh, it wasn't as if the whole film was like that. *shrug* And I've seen worse acting, anyhow.
The visuals were great, and they certainly do a good job of supporting the rather basic "apartment haunted by vengeful spirits" story.
The plot itself is extremely simple: Residents move into the titular apartment, assorted spooky things happen, and the female residents (not the male residents, for plot purposes) end up dying after witnessing something horrible - all appearing to have committed suicide by leaping from the apartment balcony. Of course, there are too many of these incidents for them to be mere coincidences. After the sister of the main character dies shortly after moving into the apartment, the latter learns of the other "suicides" and investigates the history of the place, eventually learning the grisly secret of the apartment, all the while haunted by strange spirits and frightening dreams.
I think the part that made me leap out of my seat the most was definitely, without a doubt, the dream sequence with the mysterious phone call. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I had a feeling that something was going to happen, I was tensed and ready for something to appear behind her as the phone call ended, but when it did happen... I repeat, HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I jumped so bad and grabbed Euan's arm, causing him to jump as well. XD
Seriously, it was a bit like that bit in The Eye 2 when Joey turns around and suddenly sees the spectre of a screaming man standing behind her, only TEN TIMES WORSE. Arrrggggghhhhh.
The part with the body in the cupboard was also a big scare. I mean, bloody hell. How sudden was that? XD
I was also pretty freaked out by the "give me back my eyes" scene, even though it was supposedly just a fictional story within the film. I was a little disappointed that it was just a story told by one of the characters, as I'd seen images/footage of the ghost with the blood-stained bandages over her eyes before, and assumed that she was a central image of the film. It was still a scary moment, though, and I think the story of that ghost could be a good scary film in itself. I also think that the outer bandages suddenly falling away from her face was a nice and unexpected touch.
I was, however, a little disappointed with the ending. I was kind of expecting for the ghost to find peace in the end, especially since the main character almost seemed to have convinced her by telling her she'd stay in the apartment to take care of her. However, that suggestion, in itself, felt bizarre and somewhat out of the blue, to me at least, especially when the main character had previously been ranting at the ghost for killing her sister and countless others. Then again, I do believe that she genuinely felt sorry for her, and was able to relate to the ghost in some way, as she stated earlier in the film, when she told the detective that reading about the ghost's past was almost like reading about some aspects of her own life.
Still, the suggestion to stay in the apartment and take care of the ghost as if she was her little sister did seem to be rather sudden to me. The idea just seemed to pop into her head just like that.
Then, for the ghost to suddenly kill her, when she previously seemed to have been considering the main character's offer, was just a bit of a disappointment for me. Then again, I guess it shows the depth of her anger and her attachment to her long-dead mother, as well as the control her mother has over her.
On that note, I felt a great deal of sympathy towards the ghost - as I have done with so many other Asian horror films dealing with such spirits. I think the filmmakers do such a good job of making the viewer feel sorry for antagonistic, vengeful ghosts, and showing why, exactly, they do what they do. The climactic scene of this movie just made me want to take her scary, veiny, rope-haired self and give her a big hug. XD
Also, it didn't come as a surprise to me that the Token Creepy Kid (TM) and her mother were ghosts. However, who were they, and why did they live in the apartment next door? Were they killed by the ghost? If they were, why did they live next door, instead of inside the actual apartment themselves? Or, were they representations of the ghost and her mother? Their situations were very similar - creepy, crazy and presumably alcoholic mother and the apartment in a run-down, appauling condition are two examples. Again, if that is the case, what was their point? A simple attempt to unnerve the audience? It's the only part of the story I don't quite get. The rest of the story is a very simple affair, but I'm still not sure of the point of the little girl and her mother in apartment 1302.
Overall, I found it to be a very entertaining and nicely scary film. We both enjoyed it muchly.
And on that note, time for me to go and wash my hair soon, methinks.
...Then we were woken up by a couple having a domestic in the middle of the night, in the middle of their garden. Typical. Just bloody typical.
Yesterday evening, me and Euan sat down and watched the J-horror film Apartment 1303.
Overall, I loved it. It was rather predictable and clichéd in places, but the film was a lot of fun, and jam-packed with some great jump moments. I could usually tell when such moments were coming up, but, when they did happen, fuck, did I jump. XD
However, some of the actresses playing the "hey, guess what, we're all gonna die horribly after five minutes of screen time"-type girls were somewhat... wooden in the face of terror, but, eh, it wasn't as if the whole film was like that. *shrug* And I've seen worse acting, anyhow.
The visuals were great, and they certainly do a good job of supporting the rather basic "apartment haunted by vengeful spirits" story.
The plot itself is extremely simple: Residents move into the titular apartment, assorted spooky things happen, and the female residents (not the male residents, for plot purposes) end up dying after witnessing something horrible - all appearing to have committed suicide by leaping from the apartment balcony. Of course, there are too many of these incidents for them to be mere coincidences. After the sister of the main character dies shortly after moving into the apartment, the latter learns of the other "suicides" and investigates the history of the place, eventually learning the grisly secret of the apartment, all the while haunted by strange spirits and frightening dreams.
I think the part that made me leap out of my seat the most was definitely, without a doubt, the dream sequence with the mysterious phone call. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I had a feeling that something was going to happen, I was tensed and ready for something to appear behind her as the phone call ended, but when it did happen... I repeat, HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I jumped so bad and grabbed Euan's arm, causing him to jump as well. XD
Seriously, it was a bit like that bit in The Eye 2 when Joey turns around and suddenly sees the spectre of a screaming man standing behind her, only TEN TIMES WORSE. Arrrggggghhhhh.
The part with the body in the cupboard was also a big scare. I mean, bloody hell. How sudden was that? XD
I was also pretty freaked out by the "give me back my eyes" scene, even though it was supposedly just a fictional story within the film. I was a little disappointed that it was just a story told by one of the characters, as I'd seen images/footage of the ghost with the blood-stained bandages over her eyes before, and assumed that she was a central image of the film. It was still a scary moment, though, and I think the story of that ghost could be a good scary film in itself. I also think that the outer bandages suddenly falling away from her face was a nice and unexpected touch.
I was, however, a little disappointed with the ending. I was kind of expecting for the ghost to find peace in the end, especially since the main character almost seemed to have convinced her by telling her she'd stay in the apartment to take care of her. However, that suggestion, in itself, felt bizarre and somewhat out of the blue, to me at least, especially when the main character had previously been ranting at the ghost for killing her sister and countless others. Then again, I do believe that she genuinely felt sorry for her, and was able to relate to the ghost in some way, as she stated earlier in the film, when she told the detective that reading about the ghost's past was almost like reading about some aspects of her own life.
Still, the suggestion to stay in the apartment and take care of the ghost as if she was her little sister did seem to be rather sudden to me. The idea just seemed to pop into her head just like that.
Then, for the ghost to suddenly kill her, when she previously seemed to have been considering the main character's offer, was just a bit of a disappointment for me. Then again, I guess it shows the depth of her anger and her attachment to her long-dead mother, as well as the control her mother has over her.
On that note, I felt a great deal of sympathy towards the ghost - as I have done with so many other Asian horror films dealing with such spirits. I think the filmmakers do such a good job of making the viewer feel sorry for antagonistic, vengeful ghosts, and showing why, exactly, they do what they do. The climactic scene of this movie just made me want to take her scary, veiny, rope-haired self and give her a big hug. XD
Also, it didn't come as a surprise to me that the Token Creepy Kid (TM) and her mother were ghosts. However, who were they, and why did they live in the apartment next door? Were they killed by the ghost? If they were, why did they live next door, instead of inside the actual apartment themselves? Or, were they representations of the ghost and her mother? Their situations were very similar - creepy, crazy and presumably alcoholic mother and the apartment in a run-down, appauling condition are two examples. Again, if that is the case, what was their point? A simple attempt to unnerve the audience? It's the only part of the story I don't quite get. The rest of the story is a very simple affair, but I'm still not sure of the point of the little girl and her mother in apartment 1302.
Overall, I found it to be a very entertaining and nicely scary film. We both enjoyed it muchly.
And on that note, time for me to go and wash my hair soon, methinks.