Do you believe in ghosts? That’s the question you should be prepared to have an answer to BEFORE you witness the Dead Girl in Apartment 03. Directed by Kurtis Spieler, the man responsible for editing together and dubbing the cult classic New York Ninja, Dead Girl in Apartment 03 is a slow burn of a horror flick which, if you are expecting anything near the CAPITAL CRAZY that was behind New York Ninja, might turn off some viewers. The heart deep in the chest of this cavity beats for suspense more than anything else. It is a disturbing mystery to sort out. And those who pay attention will be rewarded.
Three dead bodies and Christian (Bryan Manley Davis, Paranormal Proof, Murder Manual) was the last one who spoke with his ex-girlfriend Laura (Laura Dooling, Mr. Mercedes, Loons), who is among the dead. That’s your beginning, folks. And, with cinematography that is damn captivating, we are slowly drawn into the drama which began days earlier as Laura arrives at her new apartment.
The terror begins in a most unsettling way, too. After recently moving to New York City, Laura is horrified to discover that her roommate has died in their apartment under mysterious circumstances. The expression frozen onto the face of Laura’s roommate will leave you shaken and the fact that she walked so many times by her roommate’s room before discovering that she was dead absolutely haunts the poor girl
There are so many things that she could have done differently. Guilt. It crushes her slowly and, after her body is taken away by the police, Laura soon feels an unsettling presence in the apartment and witnesses paranormal signs which leave her to believe that she will soon be the next victim. This is when the atmosphere around the film darkens. Putting viewers on edge, Laura is isolated in the apartment. She can go nowhere because she knows no one.
With the help of Miller (Frank Wihbey, The Sadist) and Richards (Adrienne King, Friday the 13th, Killer Therapy) a pair of NYC detectives, Laura must uncover the secret behind her roommate’s death before it is too late.
That’s right, Adrienne King, the original final girl in horror classic Friday the 13th, returns to the horror arena for Dead Girl in Apartment 03. Her part might be small, but it is good to see a familiar face in this chilling thriller, especially as she adds a lot of gravitas to her character as she shares her thoughts on murders and getting involved with survivors of horrible murders with her partner, Wihbey.
Co-starring Michael Schantz (City on a Hill), whose appearance as Derrik, the dead girl’s boyfriend, kicks off more than a lot of supernatural turmoil, Dead Girl in Apartment 03 feels a bit like a one-woman show as we are with Laura for a large part of the movie, trapped in the apartment with very few people to turn to. Dooling brings a lot to her role, making her fear our fear and so on as strange things begin to happen to her.
But enjoying this low budget thriller is going to take a lot of patience and Wild Eye Releasing seems to be banking on bringing in the New York Ninja crowd. This is not that type of movie, at all, and I am unsure if viewers expecting the laughs are going to stick around past the somewhat extended opening as nothing - except a dark cloak of mood being draped over its shoulders - of much excitement happens until about the 32-minute mark, when the dead rise up!
Dead Girl in Apartment 03 premieres August 9 on digital platforms and special edition Blu-ray and DVD November 22 from Wild Eye Releasing.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 72 mins
Director: Kurtis Spieler
Writer: Kurtis Spieler
Cast: Bryan Manley Davis; Laura Dooling; Amy Holomakoff
Genre: Horror
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "You really think that girl had something to do with her roommate to death?"
Distributor: Wild Eye Releasing
Official Site:
Release Date: August 9, 2022 digital
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 22, 2022
Synopsis: After finding her roommate dead under mysterious circumstances, a young woman is haunted inside her apartment.
