Slight spin on the paranormal activity found footage film which has scientists studying spiritual phenomena arriving at the apartment of a widower and his two children who seemed to have experienced their share of disturbing events, possibly poltergeist in nature. All the cameras located in areas of the house and devices to seek out phenomena are used. Monitors to study the house, shoulder cameras on the scientists so there's mobility in capturing "moving phenomena", audio devices to hopefully catch vocal response to questions, and even a "sensitive" (he doesn't want to be called a psychic and his ability he considers "channeling") is brought in to call upon the possible spirit to learn of what he or she wants and why this is the family bothered. Caitlin, the teenage daughter, seems to be the focal point of who the spirit is interested in (an image inside her room, in the dark background behind her, with resolution cleared, shows a female apparition), while the father, Alan, is the target of her rage. Caitlin seems to be totally at odds with Alan, as if he was responsible for her mom's death. The history of the mother's absence, her true character, and how she died seem to lie at the heart of the activity, as it started at their previous residence and followed the family to the apartment. The little boy seems oblivious to the scariness of the situation, spirited and excited at all the equipment and tech being brought into the apartment, following the scientists around as they take photographs, record activity and monitor possible evidence."Apartment 143" will probably be heralded for how the evidence is provided to us, the audience, while the material doesn't particularly outmatch all the Paranormal Activity films that have come down the pike over the years. The performances are realistic and quite impressive, especially Kai Lennox as the tortured father, Alan White, worried about his kids as the film starts to question if he done sinister things to his daughter and wife. Lennox' superb work when Alan is interrogated (at first an interview but Michael O'Keefe's head parapychologist begins to turn the screws) and breaks down about his wife's "wickedness", and how his daughter was witness to her infidelity (and the violence that ensued when the father takes action on the wife's lover and then her), certainly is a bravura acting showcase. Gia Mantegna is the teenage girl rife with animosity towards her father, and that attitude is so toxic the discomfort for the scientists is palpable. How the film paints Alan as suspicious only to exonerate him when he does all he can to save his daughter is quite well done. O'Keefe as the boss of the team gives off the typical clinical, cerebral, all-business parapsychologist looking at everything from a scientific standpoint, while Rick Gonzalez is the wisecracking, smart, active tech wiz and Fiona Glascott is the pretty, hands-on, reactionary jack-of-all-trades. These three experience a lot in Apartment 143, but O'Keefe is of the thought that all of the activity is a manifestation of Caitlin's loss of a mother she was especially close to, the oppression of what she saw her mother do with another man, hormonal maturation into a woman, and oncoming schizophrenia (the same as her mother had). Of course, the final scene, as Rodriguez removes each camera while talking with O'Keefe (about what they just experienced and the disappointment of not documenting "true PA"), before leaving the apartment, produces something opposed to scientific theory dismissing paranormal activity. Good special effects and the footage on the cameras don't cheat the audience. Still, you've seen one of these, you have seen them all… Best scene: during the sensitive's channeling, the entity shows herself in Caitlin and Alan feels her wrath. That O'Keefe just feels all despondent his cameras didn't actually capture anything despite all we see is rather ridiculous...his disposition and countenance never change despite the astonishing evidence revealed on record.

Apartment 143 is surprisingly bad, I was really quite disappointed with it. From the trailer, the cast and the plot I figured that it would be quite a good film but it really isn't. The story is really Grave Encounters meets August: Osage County with half the picture weaving a spooky story of ghouls and paranormal activity, whilst the other half literally involves nothing but the counselling of a seriously uncharismatic family. As is usually the way, the troubled father is just boring, the angsty teen seems spoilt and the ghost hunters are background props with absolutely no development of character whatsoever. The little kid is cute though. The amount of clichés are gargantuan with the film including slamming doors, a deceased mother, a child communicating with the spirits, possession, electrical interference and surveillance footage. Of course these are in fact timeless conventions of the supernatural genre, however unfortunately in Apartment 143, they just seem so tried and tested it makes the whole film hysterically boring. Not recommended. 3/10

I know a movie I found hilarious should be rated more than 1 for the pure fact that laughing is a wonderful thing, but this movie wasn't supposed to be funny. The dialogue was ridiculous and made me chortle quite often. The father's acting was so bad I can't believe anyone could take him seriously. There's a part where the father shouts that his wife is a you- know-what that had me laughing pretty hard. The plot was so obvious right from the start. Nothing was a surprise at all. Things that were supposed to be scary include the phone ringing and no one is there (WOW SO SCARY!), the doorbell ringing and no one is there (IMMA PEE MAHSELF!), and then they both ring AT THE SAME TIME! Can you believe it??? Unless you want a laugh, don't bother with this joke of a movie.

The widower Alan White (Kai Lennox) invites the parapsychologists Dr. Helzer (Michael O'Keefe), Ellen Keegan (Fiona Glascott) and Paul Ortega (Rick Gonzalez) to investigate a supernatural phenomenon in his apartment in an old apartment building. Alan is an unemployed agronomist engineer that lives with his four year-old son Benny (Damian Roman) and his teenage daughter Caitlin (Gia Mantegna), who blames her father for the death of her mother Cynthia (Laura Martuscelli) in a car crash. After witnessing weird events, Dr. Helzer and his team find the cause of the activities…or not?"Emergo" is another boring and unoriginal movie that follows the "style" of "The Blair Witch Project" of making cheap movies with handy cam, no lighting and poor edition. There are a couple of scary moments but along the 80 minutes running time there are too much technical explanation for the haunted apartment by the annoying Dr. Helzer. This Spanish variation of paranormal activity is a waste of time. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Apartamento 143" ("Apartment 143")