The Apparition

Plot synopsis:
On May 21, 1973, six people conduct The Charles Experiment, a parapsychological experiment, in which they stare at a drawing of a deceased man, Charles Reamer, hoping to summon his spirit. Years later, four college students, Patrick (Tom Felton), Lydia (Julianna Guill), Ben (Sebastian Stan) and Greg (Luke Pasqualino) attempt to recreate the Charles Experiment on a larger scale by using modern technology. During the experiment, something attacks the students and pulls Lydia into the wall.
Some time later, Ben and his girlfriend Kelly (Ashley Greene) are living together. One evening, they discover strange burn marks on their counters. Kelly finds both doors wide open, even though they had locked them. They decide to change the locks and install surveillance cameras. Later, Kelly finds a large amount of mold and spores on the laundry room floor while Ben finds even more in a crawlspace. Ben gets 36 "urgent" emails from Patrick that first inform him of a new attempt at the Charles Experiment, followed by a warning that "containment failed" and finally "you are in danger".
After witnessing the apparition, the couple go to a hotel, but they are attacked there as well. As they flee, they receive a call from Patrick and meet him. Patrick explains that the initial experiment enabled a malevolent entity to enter their world, but that he has built a room surrounded by a negative current that he believes protects him from it. They return to Kelly and Ben's house to try a new experiment to contain the entity. During the experiment, the house begins to shake and break apart, then abruptly stops. While Kelly and Ben are outside, Patrick is pulled into the darkness and vanishes. Unable to find Patrick, they flee to the safety chamber in his house.
Inside the house, they hear Patrick's personal log being played back, including information about the members of the original experiment. Of the original six, two died, one committed suicide and the other three disappeared. After entering the safety chamber, Ben disappears. Kelly exits the chamber and finds Ben's contorted corpse. Patrick's narration explains that the entity gets stronger with each person it claims, and that it will wear its victims down until they are too weak to resist.
With no escape, Kelly wanders around, and enters an empty Costco. She walks to the camping section, enters a tent and waits to be killed by the entity, having fully given up resisting. A number of hands appear from behind and the entity slowly grabs hold of her as the movie cuts to black.

Tags: paranormal, psychedelic, suspenseful, haunting

Review:
True to its title, 'The Apparition' arrives almost too quietly in cinemas this week – though rather than being a marketing gimmick like how the first 'Paranormal Activity' built its cult status, there is a much more straightforward reason why this low-budget B-grade horror flick has come without any fanfare.
After setting the scene with a 1970s séance experiment where a group of researchers used their minds to conjure the spirit of a lost colleague back into this world, the film opens with a similar procedure carried out by three amateur parapsychology students - Patrick (Tom Felton), Ben (Sebastian Stan), and Lydia (Julianna Guill).
Fast forward four years later, and the story picks up with Ben moving into a new house with his current girlfriend Kelly (Ashley Greene).
Then Lincoln remembers a certain horror movie he watched called 'Dark Water', and the said apparition begins appearing as a black mouldy patch on the ceilings and below the linoleum floors.
Couple Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) arrive in a new home only to discover strange things happening.
While watching THE APPARITION my mind started to go back to the mid 90's before SCREAM came along and the horror genre was just delivering some pretty awful movies.
Unfortunately, the movie is somewhat disappointing thanks to its so generic story and short runtime.The good: Ashley sizzles up the screen.
There were some good WTF moments and a couple of scary-ish scenes but to me it felt like there was something missing, that it needed a couple of more scenes to tie it all together as I felt left wanting more from the plot, and the film was only 73 minutes long.
When we finally do get a stand alone movie it is easy to say that it will most likely just be an average movie (especially with ghost movies).I for one am far past expecting horror films to scare me, so I was not very disappointed when I realized "The Apparition" was not going to be scary.
Nothing in this movie is going to really catch you of guard or makes you shiver with fear, but you will most likely be entertained through out.The story is interesting enough, I never really found myself bored or wanting the film to end.
It is also very short, which is actually a good thing in this case, since if it would have gone on for much longer I probably would have started to get fairly bored.I see people saying this film is terrible, boring, horrible, etc.
It won't be a film you will rush out and suggest to your friends, but it is still entertaining nonetheless and if you find yourself bored on a Friday night this will do a good job of occupying a little over an hour of your time.5/10.
I started to not care about what was going on, the characters were a bit annoying and I didn't really care about them one way or another.The film is not scary, it has its thrilling moments but all in all it's just a typical horror film for the new generation which really means its pathetic.I think the film would have been awesome if it had followed the group doing the experiment on getting a ghost to appear, in fact that's what I was thinking I was getting into but instead got a cheap shot at a horror film that left me feeling like I had completely wasted my time.It had some good moments but all in all it's not really worth watching..
The project goes awry and results in one student being sucked into the wall while the others escape but are being haunted by the presence.The tag line and trailer made the film seem promising but as the movie progressed I lost all interest in the film because the plot made ABSOLUTELY no sense.
Most thrillers or horror movies offer the same premise and that is almost to be expected these days, that is until those rare offerings are delivered like The Apparition.
And it turning out to be a poltergeist phenomena just makes it all the more interesting.As for the acting in the movie, well then people did good enough jobs with their given characters and roles, although no one really managed to stand out from the crowd.
Ashley Greene looks smokin hot throughout the film but her partner and her just don't ever seem like they are a real couple so you never really believe in the story.
Now Kelly and Ben are in danger and their only chance it to meet Patrick and send the fiend back to his world."The Apparition" is a terrible rip-off of "Paranormal Activity", with a senseless and lame short story associated to poor direction and acting.
why all the hate with this movie??I thought it was okay,very watchable...yeah i have seen better but i have seen way worse than this one..at the beginning it was very interesting...as the movie went on there were some flaws but nobody is perfect.One thing i did not like was how quickly the movie ended and nobody really understood who was haunting them.The leading actors did their jobs good the setting was decent,the dialogue satisfactory and the plot was interesting..well for me anyway..If you are a horror fan and you liked the Ring and the Grudge then do watch this,if you are not a fan then don't bother...This is Maryfeather and i write...
Fast forward to today, some college students get involved in trying to replicate that 70s experiment, involving the invocation of a spirit, and all goes awry.Before you know it, that narrative thread is left hanging in the hopes that it will create suspense and mystery, and the film went on for the most parts to tell the story of lovebirds Ben (Sebastian Stan) and Kelly (Ashley Greene), in showing just how awesome their lives are, and having to co-habitate in the holiday home of Kelly's parents, in a designer neighbourhood with all but one neighbour.
Perfect set up for things that go bump in the night, and before long, we follow the duo trying to make sense of shadows, open doors, moving furniture and the likes, before finally freaking out and looking for answers in the form of Ben's friend Patrick (Tom Felton), who was his buddy in that same college experiment seen earlier in the film.As mentioned, there is absolutely nothing here that will raise your adrenaline level, or make you cower from behind semi-closed eyes.
Everyone seemed to be sleepwalking in their roles, making it horrendous to sit through with scenes being fairly stand-alone with little links to one another, and the premise right at the beginning, well, was just that, not being exploited fully to keep everything under one coherent narrative.You can sense that Lincoln had probably wanted to tell of a more cerebral story than the usual run of the mill horror flicks, but surely this is way out of his league, and I'm sure many in the audience will appreciate a more direct approach in dishing out the scares.
He's got to realize that he's no Kiyoshi Kurosawa as the story tries so hard to become a spiritual peer to the Japanese director's acclaimed film Kairo (which was remade by Hollywood into Pulse), and that one shouldn't bite off more than one can chew.The Apparition makes watching paint dry seem like a roller coaster ride.
Is the writers blatant intent to write characters that don't feel the least bit real committing such mind baffling acts as staying in a tent in the backyard after being attacked in the house , running into the woods, staying in this damn house instead of going outside on so many occasions and crawling into a tent during the films somewhat interesting climax amongst others.
The sad thing is there are some talented people here Ashley Greenes performance is limited due to the script but it's solid, Sebastian Stan has some decent moments as well as Harry Potter's Tom Felton there are some inspired moments in the films creative direction leading me to believe that maybe he should assist someone before moving onto his next project.
Fortunately the film is barely over 80 minutes so it moves quickly toward it's stale climax and at least leading lady Greene is charming enough to get us to like her character even when she isn't parading around wearing only half her clothes.
I'm a wimp when it comes to scary movies, but this one had me sitting on my couch with still eyes wondering, "Was that supposed to scare me?" The acting on average was - well, average - for most characters, but I must say Ashley Greene was so ridiculously amateur in this film I felt like I was watching an abc family special.
After a paranormal experiment a young couple start experiencing odd things around their house.This film is not bad but I think it had much more potential.
Well I'm the kind of guy that finish what he started so as soon as I realized this movie would be terrible (10/15min in) I rubbed my bed thinking "Great, now I have to see ALL of this!"So basic notes: the plot wasn't original but it could have been better explored.
Cons: Plot develops too fast for an horror movie; there's no explanation for the identity of the ghost; Worst acting seen by Tom Felton (there aren't many I know); Past a certain point all we see are ghostly stuff meant to scare us but can't really do it.Mainly no acting or special effects could save a movie where the script is bad and the producers don't take pride in their workI give 2 to this movie just because of Ashley.
Got sooo excited that they quickly cast a couple of pretty people with decent acting skills and hired an alright film photographer & director and started making the film.And then they couldn't wrap up the story logically, excitingly or even mysteriously and left it with a "sorry folks sometimes the good guys...." ending...Its very disappointing to see some peoples talent get wasted by lousy scripting and decision making.
The Apparition combines a been-there-done-that plot with cheap scares, cardboard characters, and a climax so anticlimactic, that the average viewer is bound to be more shaken by the fact that they wasted money on such an inept attempt at a chiller.The Apparition takes a jab at the haunted house sub-genre of horror movies and if you couldn't tell by my introduction, it does so clumsily.
The movie sounds like every ghost story ever made, but thanks to strong direction and absolutely thrilling scares, it kept me entertained despite its very basic premise.
This one's the work of Dark Castle Entertainment, who first came to light with the remakes of HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and THIRTEEN GHOSTS at the turn of the century, but whose horror fare has steadily deteriorated ever since.The plotting of THE APPARITION is entirely boring for the most part.
Actually,there's so much missing on the basis of the film.When I look at the first movie cast,I said to myself that according to the staff that this film is really successful,unfortunately not.You can not find a realistic acting.Perhaps the reason is that the movie studio shoot.In brief,this movie will be worth for you.Even,If you like horror movies,you will be disappointed..
Would you really want to watch a terrible movie that is so bad, it has the same rating as the film fifty shades of Grey?
When the film started, to my surprise it had great promise, the makings of a real "chiller" with hints of Poltergeist for a story line with a pinch of Ghost Busters, the tale looked strong with good potential, just the right amount of special effects - but what happened, it was like the studio ran out of money, the story is progressing nicely then the rather abrupt and somewhat surprising ending.
This film could have been up there with the "great Horror movies" if only they had given it a different ending.
I NEVER POST TO THESE THINGS HOWEVER...in these times when money is tight I would like to help you save a buck or 2....If you are looking for a great scary/horror movie...this is NOT it.
One of the most unoriginal and predictable movies of all time, The Apparition should take the form of a Direct-to-Video film.
There are some interesting happenings and for the most part of its very short running time things move along at a not so boring pace.Some of the Movie's haters seem to think that to be scary you need a shaky camera and that fuzzy out of focus "Found Footage" look that implies "Reality", but Horror Films have been scaring people for a hundred years without that amateurish, sloppy and lazy technique.Here we have a straightforward telling of a much told story of Entities breaking through to our side with the usual creepy, crawly ("watch out for spiders") results.
Unless you turn the sound off and just watch her.On a more serious note and to those who blame everything on the male lead of the film: While that is true (overall), the character played by Ashley Greene, should've (re-)acted otherwise.
The Apparition (2012)Not really sure what to make of this movie, It was kind of waste of time really, it was really all that creepy or that scary.There were some strange scenes in this movie, that didn't make sense at times but I didn't really fully get what was going on.I thought opening scenes was decent But that was the good part of the movie for me and acting was really poor and over the top in some scenes .it was kind of boring and a some-what- predicable.3 out of 10.
'THE APPARITION': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Two 'Youth Book' movie stars, Ashley Greene (of 'TWILIGHT' fame) and Tom Felton (of 'HARRY POTTER' fame), star in this supernatural horror film written and directed by Todd Lincoln.
I like Tom Felton and think it's good to see him doing other things besides playing Draco Malfoy in the 'HARRY POTTER' films.
Then we move on to the pointless shower scene, every horror movie has to have them, then we see that the ghost was in the shower with her, kinda like the grudge, thats not all this film took from that movie, we'll get to that in a moment.
When a group of co-eds, Ben (Sebastian Stan), Patrick (Tom Felton), Lydia (Julianna Guill) and Greg (Luke Pasqualino), conduct a psychic séance similar to one held 40-years earlier, they open a portal for a spiteful spirit.Later, Ben and his girlfriend, Kelly (Ashley Greene), begin to experience strange occurrences in their new home.Overtime, Kelly learns of the séance, and of the entity they released, now she and Ben must escape its ubiquitous grasp.Suffering from a deficiency of tension, twists and character development, The Apparition fails to materialize as a horror of any merit.Besides, the only thing that will haunt you after a private séance is the psychic's fee on your credit card.
This is what happens when you take some decent talent, a decent (although not a very original idea, IMO) script and then turn what should have been a good scary 'R' rated horror film into a mediocre at best 'PG-13' romp by catering to the teens that aren't going to see it anyways, because it doesn't two really ugly stars that can't act in it...lol, and I think we know whom I am talking about.The shame about this is some young talent may have been destroyed by someone that has no idea what they are doing and quite possibly should not be in the business to begin with (writer, directer & producer).
Nevertheless, I think that this movie was a little better than many of these reviewers would have you believe.The Apparition actually had a lot going for it: sufficient production value, competent directing, decent acting, decent editing, decent sound design, et cetera.
OK it goes like this Attractive people+Scary Events x number of frights\plausible explanations=resolutions and upbeat ending means "wow what a great movie" This movie maybe a jumble of ghostly events to some but it does have its moments and while there is no gore some of the memento mori are pretty impressive on film.
It's not until the freaky things start happening in the couple's house that the movie becomes unexpectedly good.
I thought the movie would be good, when I started to see things moving around the house, but the characters never really showed any type of fear or real emotion.
Overall, if you like teeny bopper horror films with no scares what so ever, very little suspense, stupid plot holes, and annoying characters, you may enjoy this movie.
By the time I thought about leaving the theater it was over.Overall; unoriginal, bad acting, too short, little actual activity.I must however mention the scene when Kelly (Ashley Greene) was hammering the door shut thinking she was outside the room, when she was in reality hammering herself in with the apparition.
Additionally, my grandmother was evil or mad or both....if that makes a difference....Anyway, with the title of this film, I thought I could revisit this experience in my life and at least someone else's vision of what it looks like and perhaps what it means.Well, no - this movie is a lot of special effects...things that I don't even associate with apparitions, poltergeists maybe...The only thing I found intriguing is the concept of energy, electrical or emotional...in it's desire to alter our physical world.
Things don't go that well for Patrick (Tom Felton, Draco from "Harry Potter") and his crew as something has happened.The film jumps again to Ben (Sebastian Stan) who was part of the experiment and Kelly (Ashley Greene, Alice from "Twilight" ) one of the world's worse house sitters.
I have seen some bad horror movies in my time, but about this one i have 10 lines to write about.
The best thing about the movie is that the chemistry between Greene and Stan is actually really good.