If Uwe Boll ever made a film about supernatural events-this is exactly what it would look like. The Apparition is a terrible film that is saved a bit only by Tom Felton-a fine young actor who gives every role a bit of oomph. However...Felton is in it for the sum of fifteen minutes. There is no reason to go into any plot except to say that a scientist (Sebastian Stan) and his girlfriend (Ashley Greene) are haunted by paranormal and supernatural forces after a college experiment gone wrong.
The main problem with the film is that first time director Todd Lincoln wants to have his cake and eat it too. Lincoln wants to prove a movie can be scary without being dumb. Rather...he has made a movie that is not the least bit scary and is certainly dumb. Perhaps it is not his fault. As I have pointed out in other reviews...a director's first movie does not prove anything. In fact...although the actors bar Felton are bad...they are obviously trying. We can also see this with the direction. There are some nice shots but nothing that pops out. The other major problem I had with the film is that it is actually only an hour and fifteen minutes. At barely feature length...this film never has enough time to give us the goosebumps it obviously wants to provide for us.
Furthermore...the film gave way too much away in not only the full length trailers but the TV spots. The final shot is shown in the trailer and so is the big "twist" of the story. Soon enough the film degrades into a big pile of nothingness. It starts out alright but gets worse and worse as it progresses and tries harder.
With unappealing characters, a run of the mill script and a total number of scares I could count with my fingers...The Apparition proves once and for all that things that go bump in the night movies are nothing short of dead in the water.
(1 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for terror/frightening images and some sensuality)
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