Eat… Prey… Love… This psychological drama from Unreal Media and Wrecking Ball Pictures had a little extra bite to it. Written by Haylar Garcia, Jim Brennan and Kathryn Gould, Apartment 212 is a “demon in a box” movie a la Gremlin (2017) and Wish Upon (2017) that focuses more on personal trauma and abuse than it does a pint-sized terror that’s latching onto a cursed object. Formerly titled Gnaw, Apartment 212 follows Jennifer (Penelope Mitchell) as she leaves her abusive husband behind and attempts to regain control of her life in a dingy apartment complex. Befriending the neighbors and landing a job interview are simple tasks, until Jennifer begins waking up with bite marks all over her body. Exterminators visit her apartment and doctors examine her body, and the source of the painful bites are still a mystery. Unknown to Jennifer, something decades old is lurking around her apartment, and it’s getting hungrier as time marches on. With a strong urban flare and expert cinematography, Apartment 212 stars Penelope Mitchell (“Hemlock Grove,” “The Vampire Diaries”), Sandra Kirkland (Bruce Almighty, “Days of Our Lives”), Chris Johnson (“Betrayal,” “South Beach”), Kyle Gass (1/2 of Tenacious D), Graham Emmons, Susan Bellone and Elisa Vasquez.
At first I was a little weary because Apartment 212 is more of a drama and psychological thriller than it was a horror movie. Besides the ominous opening sequence, creepy crying at night, and the mystery bites’ origin, there isn’t too much in the way of horror. However, Jennifer really goes through the ringer while trying to rebuild her life, and that plays so powerfully in the build up to the drag-em-out style climax. In any other creature feature, the beautiful blonde woman would be toast, canon fodder to the beast, but in Apartment 212, the demon picked the wrong girl to fuck with. Having gone through Hell enough already, and having the desire to become something more than what she was, there was no way she was going to be beaten by the demon in the box. It’s actually quite fitting that this title is seeing release through Gravitas Ventures during the month of March, since it’s recognized as the time devoted to women and female empowerment. At the end of the film, Jennifer engages the monster in such a triumphant way, that it can only be a metaphor for strong women and surviving the impossible. Penelope Mitchell was absolutely the right actress for the job. Her performance, and the clever script-writing from Haylar, Jim and Kathryn, catapulted this movie to become something more than a creature feature with an added dose of drama. It became a torch of hope for all women suffering through abuse. And, yes, the final fight is quite epic.
From a production standpoint, I have no qualms with this movie either. The cinematography was quite good, and luckily, despite the title Apartment 212, the film switches locations routinely, so you’re not left with a cramped and boring feeling. The lighting was perfect, the audio didn’t have any blips that I could find, the creation of the demon was handled in a way that closely resembled the allure of early 1990’s horror films. I dug it, for sure. The haunt scenes near the end of the film were pure terror at its finest, and a clean cut way to transition the movie from drama to horror. And I can’t point a weak link in the cast, either. Apartment 212 was directed and edited by Haylar Garcia with cinematographer Anton Fresco. I’m actually glad that I waited a week before penning my review, because I was originally going to give this movie an average score. But, since I’ve had time to let it marinate in my brain, I have to say it was much better than I thought, and more successful, imaginative, and thematic than I realized. Do I wish it had a little more horror? Yes. At the end of the day, though, it was a calculated story of female empowerment that boasts a sinister demon that embodies all the hardship that life has to offer. When Jennifer hit it with, well, anything in the apartment, she was hitting it for all of us, too. Well done, cast and crew! Final Score: 8.5 out of 10.
