APARTMENT 1303

Directed by Ataru Oikawa, the visually exciting director who gave us Tomie: Beginning, Apartment 1303 is perhaps the scariest Asian ghost story of the year. Based on a novel by Kei Oishi and produced by MonteCristo, this marriage of suspense, terror, and personal guilt digs deep beneath the insecurities of everyday men and women to probe the soft meat of tension and anxiety beneath. Not only a variation of the haunted house theme, this cleverly written, moody, and atmospheric creepshow also manages to be cosically relevant, paying as much attention to the troubles of human relationships and shadows. Unearthing the terrors and tensions of everyday life and mirroring them by genuinely creepy imagery, this episodic-like tragedy of personal culpability, guilt, and mad obsession manages to be as smart as it is moving. Never forgetting its first priority -- to scare! -- the numerous 'jump' moments hidden within the labyrinthine plot are also used as magnifying points of human behaviour.

Starring Noriko Naka Goshi (Mariko) and Arata Furuta (Detective Sarutai), this compelling addition to the j-horror ghost story phenomenon features Mariko, whose sister unexplainably killed herself immediately after moving in with her boyfriend into the legend haunted apartment 1303. The building is a hotspot of ghostly folklore and bad luck, sporting high fatality rates . . . And terrible secrets. Driven near mad by her mother's animosity, insecurity, and her sister's demise, likeable and resourceful Mariko attempts to find the doom-laden secrets of the ghostly high rise, the off little girl next door, and the shadows whose presence haunt her already fragile nerves. With the help of Detective Sarutai, she might just accomplish her goal . . . and get more than she wanted!

It seems that at Apartment 1303 . . . .your life is the deposit! Watching this bold reincarnation of the traditional haunted house thriller is rather like having a nightmare wide awake. Painting a world of misery and suffocating loss, the all too human elements of the script are as effective and emotionally draining as the cleverly depicted ghostly scenes. A sense of urgent doom and tragedy surrounds the entire production, wrapping viewers in an aura of malevolence. The scariest place to live since the Overlook Hotel, the interior of the apartment is itself a character, complete with an identity, past, and shifting moods. Watching these and the diverse, nightmarish ways which they effect character's physical lives and internal health is fascinating and draining. Similar in mood to such classics as Ju-On or Pulse, Apartment 1303 gives the haunted house formula a welcome face-lift. Not content to wallow simply in gymnastics of violence or mysterious back story, the vengeful spectral forces in the film are intimately connected with the evolving spheres of character's desires and revelations. A spectral spectacle of chilling atmosphere and believable characters, the strongest element of this impressive ghost story is the manner in which the themes and visuals are married together with such precision and passion, inviting us to attach our own emotions to those of Mariko as she struggles to learn the truth about both the haunted rooms which threaten her life and her own capabilities. A dark triumph!

Review by William Simmons