As a film, APARTMENT 1303 suffers from being far too similar in scope and tone to classic, better Japanese horror films that have come before: I'm thinking JU ON: THE GRUDGE and ONE MISSED CALL to name but two. It's yet another story of a haunted apartment block (DARK WATER anyone?) inhabited by the same type of long-haired female ghost that's been popularising Asian horror films ever since RING was a success in 1998. The story is derivative and reminiscent of earlier films but this one always comes off worse in the comparisons as truth be told it's not a patch on those aforementioned classics. I did kind of like it, though.
It's a slow burning chiller, depicting a series of violent suicides in which young females jump to their death from an apartment balcony. The sister of the latest victim begins to investigate and discovers a macabre back story involving a young girl and her alcoholic mother that's somehow linked to the present day tragedies. It covers very familiar ground but I didn't mind as I enjoy these Japanese horrors with all their atmosphere-building and regular shivers and shudders.
Unfortunately the film falls apart towards the end as events start to get increasingly ludicrous, thus blowing any realism that the filmmakers have strived so hard to build beforehand. The appearance of a ghostly girl whose hair extensions are dragging victims to their death is frankly laughable and it doesn't help that some horrid blue-screen effects of people hanging off balconies are even poorer than the one that marked Alan Rickman's fall in DIE HARD – and that was twenty years ago. In an effort to throw in lots of last-reel twists, we're left wondering what the hell is going on, and one of the biggest mysteries lies with the young girl and her mother living next door – if they're ghosts, how does a living male interact with them at the beginning of the film? Maybe a better question is why a family owns dog food when they clearly don't have a dog.
The acting is fairly mediocre and there aren't any shining performances here, but that doesn't matter as the characterisation never goes beyond the basics anyway. The over-the-top ending leaves you wondering what the hell they were thinking of rather than sitting back with a satisfied 'wow' as in some genuinely good twist-movies such as THE USUAL SUSPECTS. The first hour's a fun exercise in suspense building but the hijinks at the climax ruin a lot of this film's credibility.
It's a slow burning chiller, depicting a series of violent suicides in which young females jump to their death from an apartment balcony. The sister of the latest victim begins to investigate and discovers a macabre back story involving a young girl and her alcoholic mother that's somehow linked to the present day tragedies. It covers very familiar ground but I didn't mind as I enjoy these Japanese horrors with all their atmosphere-building and regular shivers and shudders.
Unfortunately the film falls apart towards the end as events start to get increasingly ludicrous, thus blowing any realism that the filmmakers have strived so hard to build beforehand. The appearance of a ghostly girl whose hair extensions are dragging victims to their death is frankly laughable and it doesn't help that some horrid blue-screen effects of people hanging off balconies are even poorer than the one that marked Alan Rickman's fall in DIE HARD – and that was twenty years ago. In an effort to throw in lots of last-reel twists, we're left wondering what the hell is going on, and one of the biggest mysteries lies with the young girl and her mother living next door – if they're ghosts, how does a living male interact with them at the beginning of the film? Maybe a better question is why a family owns dog food when they clearly don't have a dog.
The acting is fairly mediocre and there aren't any shining performances here, but that doesn't matter as the characterisation never goes beyond the basics anyway. The over-the-top ending leaves you wondering what the hell they were thinking of rather than sitting back with a satisfied 'wow' as in some genuinely good twist-movies such as THE USUAL SUSPECTS. The first hour's a fun exercise in suspense building but the hijinks at the climax ruin a lot of this film's credibility.