johnlinkmovies

Over at another site, the IFC, a fellow blogger puts out a wonderful series called Shitfest. For this series, other bloggers find something terrible to watch and submit. The deadline is the end of August and I happily committed to providing an article. Last time I went with an old article, my trashing of the recent TEXAS CHAINSAW movie. This time, I wanted to do something fresh rather than digging into the archives. I could have done the weak SILENT HILL sequel I just suffered through, but I’m not sure that movie brings others as much pain as it does me. I thought, however, that THE APPARITION might fill the bill perfectly. TWILIGHT actress, PG-13 horror, 4.0 score on IMDB, generic title, minimal theatrical run, derivative story. But, the question remained, was it bad enough to qualify for Shitfest?

I watched THE APPARITION (2012) on 8.18.13. It was my first viewing of the film.

I’m sorry to report, this movie isn’t that terrible.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t good. The story is not particularly original and the ending really is terrible. The journey, though, is one you can sit through. This isn’t a movie providing constant jump scares. It tries to be a bit more atmospheric and it even succeeds in a few spots.

The story goes that a group of college kids try to bring a spirit into our world, and to trap it. They succeed with the former, but not the latter. Jump a whole bunch of years, and that spirit is coming back to get the people who started the whole thing. One of those guys, Ben (Sebastian Stan) has a new house and a new girlfriend, Kelly (Ashley Green). In typical fashion she walks around in her underwear a bunch and investigates a whole bunch of things she should probably stay away from.

But, honestly, the principal actors in this aren’t all that bad. They won’t be nominated for awards here or anything, but they get the job done sufficiently. Green, in particular, plays a convincing leading lady. We also get the benefit of Draco Malfoy showing up for the first scene and the climax. He does a nice enough job of not making us think of Draco Malfoy the entire time.

So, yeah. I mean there isn’t a ton to say about this movie. It certainly wasn’t a good horror film. It is not memorable and I will have a hard time remembering this versus any other generic horror movie by some time next week. But, for one hour and twenty-three minutes (minus credits of course), this entertained me enough that I stopped thinking about it being a Shitfest film within a half hour. Perhaps that is the key to enjoying THE APPARITION: go in with expectations so impossibly low that it can’t be THAT bad.

SCORES

FILM: 4; MOVIE: 7; ACTING: 5; WRITING: 4

4+7+5+4+0=20

~ by johnlink00 on August 18, 2013.

Posted in ~ A ~, ~~~ 2012 ~~~
Tags: horror