Writers: Pete Cafaro, Andrew Kayros
Director: Quinn Saunders
Regret will haunt you
Apparition – aka The Nesting – has many of the trappings of a horror movie but really isn’t one. It’s more of a gothic romantic melodrama.
The story revolves around Doug, a hard-working Jody Quigley who is in almost every scene. Following the death of his fiancee Lori (Katrina Law), Doug moves to the big, old house that he and Lori were in the process of doing up. Once there he withdraws from the world, his only real friend being Jamie (Lili Bordan) who has her own troubled past.
Of course the house has a troubled past and a local reputation. As time goes on Doug begins to see images of what happened previously. Then he also starts to see his dead fiancee…
From the synopsis it sounds like a standard haunted house movie with an element of ‘how much is real’? However it’s not like that. This is actually a film about Doug and his mental state as he deals with depression, guilt and self-imposed isolation. The question of how much the house is affecting him is left up in the air, but it doesn’t really matter. Yes, there are a few attempts at scares – but they feel like token elements. The dramatic music simply underscores how little actually happens.
One of the alternative names for Apparition is The Nesting and that name actually sums up the film a lot better. As well as the plot-based meaning revealed part way through it can also refer to Doug’s withdrawing to his ‘nest’ in the house. However I read it as referring to the way Doug’s negative emotions are nesting and growing inside him.
All of which builds up to an ending which is inevitable, it’s simply a matter of time.
So Apparition isn’t all-out horror, but I don’t think it was trying to be. I think it was aiming at psychological thriller with a haunted house motif. Unfortunately whilst it’s stylish and classily made there are few thrills or surprises.