by Thomas Willett
11:00pm PST, April 25, 2012
In general, found footage movies are among the worst subgenres. While the premise of piecing together a story seems promising, there is almost usually too much winking at the camera and some artistic flair that keeps it from feeling like a random camera was truly found. Even with coherent work, it allows the narrative to be sloppy and cuts over problematic areas in annoying manners. The appeal of it is that anyone can make it look effective, though rarely do they. The latest entry is Apartment 143, in which parapsychologists film an apartment to uncover paranormal activity. Does it break free of the clichés, or is it just another attempt at making a useless genre tolerable?
Right off the bat, the cast of characters is introduced in the typical fashion and set up the excuses for excessive camera use. Alan White (Kai Lennox) is a widower who lives with his two children and has invited local parapsychologists (lead by Michael O’Keefe) to discover what the causes of the bumps in the night. The exposition is familiar, but convenient in placing the rest of the movie into motion. It doesn’t take on pointless banter, and instead shows small excavations to survey the rooms.
The worst thing that can be said about this movie’s attempt at found footage is that it uses familiar movie flair to beef up the scares. While it uses music sparingly, the scary moments are heightened by a brief music cue that comes out of nowhere. The rest of the movie succeeds in keeping the camera shots within reason, though like the subject matter itself, it is best enjoyed without logic. While filmmaker Carles Torrens does a good job of avoiding awkward camera transitions, there are still moments where it feels a little tacky.
The story plays like a cross between The Last Exorcism and Paranormal Activity, in that it focuses on demons in a very visual way while playing the moving furniture gimmick for quick scares. While it doesn’t seem original, it is brought to life by a great lead performance from Lennox. The film lives off of his every line and he evokes emotion very well. As the climax comes into play, a long one shot of him sharing dark secrets adds intensity to the rest of the story. His ability to emote pain and suffering in convincing ways almost makes the rest of the flaws seem tolerable.
The rest of the characters are interesting, though more one dimensional. The parapsychologists each have personalities, but they are mostly there to work. The universe built here isn’t impressive, but with a cast that has plenty of enthusiasm, it puts the overall production of Apartment 143 above the typical paranormal activity garbage. This film succeeds despite trying to be a found footage movie.
That success could possibly be attributed to writer Rodrigo Cortes, who also directed the claustrophobic Buried, in which he used limited space very well. Here he uses an apartment as an area for slow reveals that only intensifies the situation. He doesn’t create the most interesting of characters, but he knows how to write a competent and thorough story and make it work. Even first time director Torrens shows some promise in attempting to make his movie have an authentic voice.
Overall the film suffers from some of the found footage tropes that plague the subgenre. However, at 80 minutes, it is a brisk journey that manages to be intriguing yet simple. With a strong performance by Lennox and the supporting cast, this manages to be an ambitious story that uses space well. It probably isn’t the most memorable, as it features the same generic plot devices found in its predecessors, but it utilizes them a lot better. Rodrigo Cortes has a knack for giving us something to care about and Carles Torrens may be a director to look out for if he does work in a genre that is less draining.
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