Synopsis:
Apparition follows a group of millennials experimenting with a spiritually guided app who successfully connect to the otherworld and they are ultimately guided to Preston Castle. This ominous, historic site of murder and torture is connected to each of them in ways they will soon discover, thanks to the dead.
Apparition stars Mena Suvari, Kevin Pollak, and Jon Abrahams and is directed by Waymon Boone. The film is a “based on true events” horror that really takes liberties with the word true. Apparition fits neatly into that category of horror movies that take a quirky concept and then builds the film around it, like a supernatural killer working through Skype or a dating app or a hundred other such titles that you’ve probably seen before, with the plot this time revolving around a Smartphone app that can somehow let you talk to the dead. Rolling your eyes after that last sentence is a completely valid response.
Apparition was more a chore to watch than anything else. It is, unfortunately, a film that you have seen before; a reiteration or reimagining of that same haunted asylum or hospital horror you’ve seen a dozen times coupled with that modern tech-twist. The characters were generic and the acting sub-par. The writing was full of holes and the “science” behind the app itself was really just bizarre; a ghost-finding Google Maps? Really?
It’s not all bad news though. The score was pretty good and the ghosts (makeup and practical effects) were fairly creepy. The production value was quite a bit higher than your average indie flick but Apparition, unfortunately, felt a lot more B-grade than it should have. The film also keeps a solid pace, with the action starting early and continuing—mostly non-stop—for the entirety of the runtime.
I tried very hard to follow all the details, to care for the characters, and to look for the good within Apparition but I spent most of the time disinterested, detached, and indifferent. It is a lacklustre horror film that failed to push the envelope or bring anything new to the genre, instead recycling tropes from other lukewarm horror titles and reselling it as something fresh. Whatever happened at the Preston School of Industry, this wasn’t it.
Thank you for reading and as always, stay sordid. Trailer and poster below. Apparition will be available for digital download from tomorrow, February 10th, 2020.
