The new apartment of Sayaka Midorikawa mysteriously saw her falling off the balcony. When Mariko, her sister starts to investigate the death of her dear sister, she realizes that there have been several “suicides” in the same room over the previous years. Mariko experiences ghostly encounters and must uncover the secret of Apartment 1303 before it is too late.
There are a few nice setups by Tokusho Kikimura among them while shooting through a lens capturing landscapes on camera. This results from partly being in such scenes with ocean view based on gulf that make one stare into distance . As for color grading , outdoor shots are slightly saturated which looks genuine and differentiates environmental characteristics. On the other hand, internal views present early digital cinema look. This can be seen in terms of skin tones that will move from shadows to highlights using unnatural gradients. Besides, some colouring tends towards variation between shots occasionally although they may not occur frequently. This is quite disturbing even if it happens only for a few times.
It was a good work by Noriko Nakagoshi to play as Mariko who is an optimist that have to confront with a ghost. This makes it even more crucial for her character to be well executed, considering the fact that the film has just few key characters. That being said, most of the burden falls on Mariko, but she doesn’t have enough substance or charisma to carry the flick. On the other hand, a young Rina Matsuno does a chilling performance as the angry ghost.
Given that J-horror for that era is known for its slow-burning, quiet terror, “Apartment 1303” however goes for more electricity-inducing scares. Some of them do give some real good jolts. At worst though, the filmmaker pushes these instances to the point where they are more comical than anything else. The revelatory moments are too predictable and so fail to make impact when they finally come out in the open. This is not helped by the fact that it’s an apartment building and a child’s ghost; Dark Water comes to mind readily. On the same note, its storyline lacks originality hence can be referred as a mere recollection of other works in this genre which hovers above every scene familiar with how things usually go down here for genre regulars. Fortunately, at least the climax introduces peculiar visuals and motifs that jazz up the third act. However, by failing to reach a focal point in conclusion of movie, it finalizes all thoughts built up throughout it rather well
Apartment 1303′ is a work in an era that is quietly coming to an end. Die-hard fans will find little between the lines that sets this movie apart from other popular ones in this genre, and it’s only because of its repetitive nature which limits creativity. But, it is both a writing problem and a symptom of society itself as it keeps on changing and entertainment trends move forward. However, when compared to others, there is nothing about the quality of the film in itself that makes it worthwhile to watch.
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