shadowfireflame | Movie Review: The Apparition (Reply)

Hmm, another sub-standard horror movie that I felt obligated to see because a beloved Harry Potter cast member was starring. Tom Felton, I am disappointed: The Apparition was not nearly as enjoyable as Rise of the Planet of the Apes or even The Disappeared. I’m fairly certain giggling during dramatic moments of a horror film is an inappropriate reaction.

Tom Felton’s character is a geeky British guy who for some reason decides to try to contact a spirit from hell and pull it into our world. I don’t know why. But it turns out he’s successful! (Yay?) Except now everybody involved is getting an impromptu home renovation from a lousy decorator, complete with nasty mold problems in the house, furniture being placed on the ceiling and at strange angles, electrical issues, etc. Oh, and some of them are dragged back through to the spirit world, which probably sucks. And that’s pretty much it.

I feel like the writers here know all the clichés as to what should be scary (à la a Paranormal Activity-type of setup), but they just can’t seem to replicate it. It’s scarier when an apparition is haunting not a place but a person—let’s throw that in there, but let’s not explain it. Shower scenes with creepy hands are scary, so let’s have that there—but not say why the spirit being should be interested in people who weren’t involved with pulling it through in the first place. Let’s have literally every single line Tom delivers be about some nonsense pseudo-science or technical stuff but not have it add anything to the overall movie. (Yay?)

I can’t really blame the acting. I think the actors did what they could with what they were given. The protagonist, Ashley Greene, in particular was very good. She looks like a prettier version of Kristen Stewart (and I understand she played Alice Cullen in Twilight, which doesn’t help), but in my opinion her acting was very convincing (and certainly better than Stewart’s). I wish Tom could have been in the movie more (or had some real lines so he could do some real acting), though.

But it’s short and inappropriately amusing, so that works! I watched the movie with a friend, and our running theory (never disproved) is that the spirit being just wants to do its goddamn laundry, but people keep interrupting it. It’s so difficult to wash clothes nowadays. (Seriously, though, most dramatic scenes happen in places associated with clothes or cleaning—the laundry room, the shower, the closet with all their clothes. And to contrast with this possible obsession with cleaning, the protagonist thinks she’ll be safe sleeping outside in a tent.)

P.S. Thank you so much,