Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Apartment 1303’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Moving out on your own as a child can be something that you have been looking forward to all of your life, but when your parents are not around to help out with the basics, you can be in for a rude awakening. Even when you think you may be making the correct decision for your own future it is always good to make sure that your parents or family are involved just in case you might need a little bit of help. Although they might not show it to you right away, your family will do much more than you would ever expect to make sure you are comfortable and safe.

Janet Slate is sick and tired of living at home with her sister and mother and wants to move out on her own. Signing a lease on the first apartment that she has seen, Janet is ready to start her life over in a manner of speaking, without the abuse she has received over the past couple of years. Although her sister is upset with the situation, Janet could care less as she is out of the house, a grown woman and does not need permission from anyone to live her life the way she sees fit. Even though it seems strange being alone, Janet is happy with her decision and is ready for her first night in the apartment.

Seeing and hearing strange things on her first night, Janet is not able to locate who or what could be creating these noises. Not willing to give in to the theories that there is someone else in the apartment with her, she takes some sleeping pills and tries to fall asleep. But a stranger is walking outside of her bedroom, bouncing a tennis ball and not listening to Janet’s requests to leave, instead the stranger stakes her claim to the apartment by throwing Janet across the room. Not believing what happened the previous night, Janet does know that she does not want to go back to her new home, at least not alone for the fear of what she thinks happened to her.

---

Calling on her boyfriend to come over as she does not feel safe in the apartment, Janet feels comfort that she will be okay with someone else with her, but when Mark leaves the room, Janet is attacked by someone and thrown from the balcony. Not believing she would ever kill herself; Janet’s sister Lara decides to investigate what happened in the room, but when she is met by the detective who is in charge of the case, she believes that there is something more sinister going on than just a human causing the deaths. Lara does not feel right in the apartment but keeps getting drawn back to it when she receives a call from her dead sister to help her. Calling in her back up, Mark, Lara feels safe with someone else watching her back, but the hatred in the small apartment could be too much for even the two to tolerate.  

Apartment 1303 follows the relationship between the Slate family women. There is no father in the picture and the mother is a former rock legend who can only get her new ideas from mixing alcohol with her medications. Making enough money to survive comfortably for her and her daughters, she believes that everything is just fine, but when Janet moves out on her own, she puts the blame on Lara who is the stationary target. When Janet is found dead, the mother continues to blame Lara, but is now much more aggressive about it and Lara is pushed out of the comforts of her life and into the clutches of what killed her sister. With nobody else in the apartment, Lara wants to feel safe, but can tell there is someone, something else with her. Calling on the help of her sister’s boyfriend, Lara feels safe for a time with him staying around but starts to understand that just his presence will not be enough to keep whatever spirits inhabit the apartment at bay.  

This is one of those ghost story movies that will leave you a little bit skeptical about moving into an apartment or house where someone has died. Some tenants do not want to be bothered or move on when they have been told to and that can be a very dangerous situation for everyone involved. I really enjoyed the family dynamic that played out in this film with a mother that does not really understand what her actions are doing to her children, forcing them to find their own way. Without knowing what the apartment was really holding onto, both daughters are forced with the decision of a lifetime, whether to move back home or face their fears when it comes to living on their own for the first time. With a little girl telling everyone that moves into the place to leave, a creepy landlord that only wants to receive unwholesome payments and a ghost that wants the apartment to herself, this is a flick that will make you think twice about where you move to, next. Stay Scared.

---