Film Review: APARTMENT 1303 (2012)

I was surprised to learn that the film Apartment 1303 (2012) was a film originally presented in 3D but I guess that it was in select theaters and markets in that format.  Unfortunately, the film isn’t worth seeing in 3D or in 2D. 

Janet Slate (Julianne Michelle) has secretly moved into an apartment without her overbearing and violent mother Maddie (Rebecca De Mornay) and her older sister Lara (Mischa Barton).  She not only wants to get away from her mother but she also wants to start living her own life away from the pressure of her singer mother.  As soon as Janet gets into her apartment something is not right as a little girl keeps warning her to leave and her landlord likes to make himself home in her place plus something keeps trying to spook Janet in her own home.  When Janet suddenly dies two days later from an apparent suicide by jumping off the balcony of her place, Lara decides to take residence in the apartment to discover the truth of what happened to her sister.  No one seems to believe Lara when she says that the apartment is haunted by a previous tenant who refuses to share the apartment but she must find a way to survive when the ghosts in the apartment is very violent and vengeful.

This might actually be an interesting film if not for the poor acting due to the poor script.  There is no logic to the actions of the vengeful ghosts especially when Janet’s ghosts decides to be vengeful towards her sister (never makes any sense).  Also, the way in which both Janet and Lara react to the ghosts in any given scene is inconsistent.  Sometimes they appear to be afraid of the ghosts while other times they just decide to ignore them.  This gets old really fast and is probably more of an editing problem since these are usually close up reaction shots on the character.  Another thing is that De Mornay is the best actor in the film and she has little to nothing to do in the film and never has a chance to interact with the ghosts (which is a shame).

The special FX actually do look as though they were made for a 3D film but look poor in 2D (kind of like the poor visual FX in JAWS 3-D when viewed in 2D).  Not a very good film in any way and is highly forgettable.

Film Review: KILL KATIE MALONE (2010)

There are two types of B-Movies for the horror fan.  There are those like Army of Darkness (1992) which is big budget studio films that are fun and entertaining, and then there are films like Sharknado (2013), a film that plays on the lowest common denominator that has cheesy SFX but delivers on the entertainment value and little else.  Kill Kate Malone (2010) lies somewhere in between. 

Headlined by Dean Cain as a professor who sales a mysterious box online to three unsuspecting friends.  This box seems to contain the ghost of a Katie Malone who will grant the owner of the box wishes once the box is open.  When the three college friends open the box they unwillingly unleash a vengeful spirit that decides to kill everyone that poses a problem for the three friends.  Soon the three friends come to realize that the ghost of Katie Malone has her own agenda for them.

Kill Katie Malone has a very simple premise but its heart is firmly planted with horror fans as the SFX are better than expected and the action is fast with very little down time spent on over characterizations.  The gore is plentiful and there are some interesting kills throughout.  This film was tailor made for the horror fan and delivers on all the requirements of a good B-Movie especially on the entertainment value.

If there is a bad thing to say about this B-Movie it’s that Dean Cain isn’t in the film enough as he makes a brief cameo in the film.  Otherwise the rest of the young cast does a capable job of carrying the film and the premise has enough original ideas to keep even the most jaded fan entertained.  There will always be better films out there than most B-Movies but Kill Katie Malone is one B-Movie that won’t disappoint.