REVIEW: Apartment 143 (2011)

Director: Carles Torrens | Genre: Horror / Thriller / Found Footage  | Runtime: 80min.

After a car crash leaving a wife/mother dead, devastation soon sets in within the White family. Re-housing themselves in an apartment complex, specifically apartment 143, strange unexplainable events start taking place - naturally worried, the father; Alan White (Kai Lennox) contacts a group of paranormal investigators, who quickly learn there's much more going on here than meets the eye.

What's that you say? Another ghost flick sporting girls with crazy eyes? Essentially, this is what it is, but there's enough plot twists and genuinely scary moments here to keep you engaged throughout without getting bored, which is often rare in these types of movies. Apartment 143 is shot using the found footage sub-genre through the handheld cameras of the paranormal researchers - however, the characters are actually a very likable group unlike practically everyone in the Paranormal Activity series. You'll more than likely find yourself routing for them as opposed to waiting for a ghost or demon to rip them apart.

Not long into the movie you'll be treated to some supernatural activity, which builds and builds more intense throughout. You almost know when something scary is going to happen, but various imagery and camerawork used still makes it a frightening experience. The activity is very cliche - doors opening by themselves, things falling off shelves, and the occasional glimpse at the thing terrorising the apartment. Something unique is the constant shift between the paranormal side of things and the real story behind the White family, there's just something quite not right about the whole situation, specifically Alan and his daughter; Caitlin White (Gia Mantegna). 

Caitlin hates her father for reasons we aren't supposed to know, and it's that on-going thought of "why does she hate him, he seems like a nice guy, and what does it have to do with the ghostly goings-on?". Unfortunately, nothing more can be said due to spoilers but there's plenty of mystery throughout the movie, making for 80 minutes worth of time well-spent. Certainly different from other found footage horrors out there, Apartment 143 is worth watching as it breathes some long-awaited fresh air into the genre.

7/10

REVIEW: Frankenstein's Army (2013)

Director: Richard Raaphorst | Genre: Found Footage / Horror | Runtime: 84 min.

World War II is almost finished and a squad of Russian soldiers are making their way through eastern Germany when they find themselves in a Nazi lab headed by Victor Frankenstein - it's here that "super-soldiers" are being put together with aid from the limbs of dead Nazi comrades. Obviously.

With the onslaught of horror movies these days, it's easy to dismiss most as just "another horror flick", but it's Frankenstein's Army that tries to break that mold - filled with enough gore to keep the usual crowd happy, there's also much more to this movie in terms of visual appeal. Sure, we're all tired of the "found footage" genre and it's a shame director Richard Raaphorst decided to go down that route as it would have been much better shot like a regular movie. 

Instead, we get this annoying shaky camera, which is understandable as to why but makes the viewing experience generally irritating and no one wants that. It's the incredible sets and monster designs that really make this film worth watching - it's definitely not the narrative, the core storyline is bland and doesn't offer much in terms of imagination, that's where Frankenstein's monsters come in to save the day so to speak. 

Each one has something incredibly grotesque about them whether it's the guy who is stitched together with various pieces of human flesh or the Mosquito man, who's equipped with various sharp objects ready to pierce the flesh of anyone who gets in his (its?) way. There are a few twists and turns along the way, nothing that will shock you too much - during the first quarter or so, it's mildly entertaining to see how the Russian soldiers act around each other providing some laughs here and there, but ultimately you'll most likely be anticipating their inevitable deaths from the previously mentioned monsters.

Overall, Frankenstein's Army will keep you entertained just long enough to get that gruesome horror fix, but it's true downfall is the found footage aspect - it doesn't make the movie scary, which I imagine it was intended to do. This bizarre, yet generally entertaining movie stands as a symbolic reminder of Hitler's last desperate attempts at victory towards the end of World War II, let's just hope this never actually happened.

6/10