The Apparition is a 2012 American horror film written and directed by Todd Lincoln and starring Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton, Julianna Guill and Luke Pasqualino.
On May 21, 1973, six people conduct The Charles Experiment, a parapsychological exercise, 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), Greg (Luke Pasqualino), and Ben (Sebastian Stan) 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. After countless strange occurrences around their home, 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”…
“The biggest damage done to The Apparition is done before you even watch the movie – the marketing. This movie is sold boldly advertising the movie’s very final frame, which was even at the end of the trailer, thus ruining any shock or surprise value their last and biggest card could have possibly held. Outside of that, I’m surprised to see such low ratings here – it’s really nowhere near that bad a film. Yeah, it’s pretty unsurprising – but on the other hand, the characters aren’t written as laughable cardboard cutouts who can’t hope to pull off a believable person. The characters here are likeable and genuine, and even though the ending wasn’t what I was looking for, the rest of the movie to a lesser degree was sort of what I wanted to see. It doesn’t rely on cheap scares or gore to pretend to frighten us – it relies on PG-13, if not cliched, images and suspense tactics that are decent, if not “seen before”.” Metacritic.com
“The Apparition’s something-crossing-over-into-our-world plot might not break new ground, but it’s far from the worst idea for a movie I’ve ever heard. In fact, there are quite a few details about the film that really work. The camera angles are frequently interesting. The visual effects are clean and well put-together, especially for the smaller budget. There’s a great usage of mold, easily the creepiest of all household annoyances, and the setting, a starter community filled with mostly empty houses, is clever, topical and the right level of creepy. Unfortunately, none of this matters at all because the main characters are completely unlikable, and the momentum is consistently ruined by poor decision-making. The film waits too long to give viewers the backstory, adding confusion instead of suspense. It lets its male protagonist loudly swear while his girlfriend is on the phone with her parents, making him seem more oblivious and douchey than endearing and funny. It seemingly throws us in the middle of the action but then allows it to drag on for a few days, sacrificing both real time excitement and longterm character changes. And perhaps worst of all, it chooses to vaguely explain itself.’ Mack Rawden, CinemaBlend.com
“Clocking in at 74 minutes (not including end credits), the only thing scary about The Apparition is that any studio would think to charge you to watch it. This supposed supernatural thriller is a hollowed out shell of creaky noises, shadows and utter nonsense. There is little doubt as to why this film sat on a shelf for over a year, waiting for an empty weekend to con unsuspecting moviegoers out of their money, but if you end up paying to see this don’t be ashamed to ask for your money back. I get the feeling writer/director Todd Lincoln was going for something ambiguous, believing what we don’t understand is scarier, and in most cases that’s true, but when all you give the audience are shadows, a few crazy visions and killer bed sheets you haven’t done anything to scare anyone. The highest praise goes to the Warner Bros. marketing department who somehow came up with the tagline “Once you believe, you die.” Even this makes no sense, unless I missed a seriously important piece of the plot, considering dying in this case has nothing to do with believing, unless you believe every shitty movie brings cinema one step closer to dying… In that case, the marketing is true.” Brad Brevet, RopeofSilicon.com
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