Apartment 1303 (2007)

A modern ghost story which turns a love hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror.

Director:

Ataru Oikawa

Writers:

Ataru Oikawa, Takamasa Sato

Stars:

Noriko Nakagoshi, Arata Furuta, Eriko Hatsune

Cast

Credited cast:
Noriko Nakagoshi	...	Mariko Midorikawa
Arata Furuta	...	Detective Sakurai
Eriko Hatsune	...	Yukiyo Sugiuchi
Yuka Itaya	...	Woman next door
Naoko Ôtani	...	Midorikawa San
Aki Fukada	...	Midorikawa Sayaki
Toshinobu Matsuo	...	Iwata Kenichiro
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shion Machida	...	Yukiyo's mother

Storyline

While celebrating with her friends in her new cheaply rented apartment (with balcony and view of the sea) on the thirteenth floor of a building, the young Sayaka unexpectedly jumps off the balcony committing suicide. Her mother goes insane and her older sister, Mariko, decides to investigate the mysterious death of her sister. She finds that there have been many suicides of young women living in apartment 1303. She finds a book telling the tragic story of the Yukiyo and her mother, the first tenants of the apartment and uncovers the truth behind the suicides.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | ghost | horror movie remade | remade | long black hair | 

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Taglines:

Some rentals are too good to be true

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

27 October 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Apartamento 1303

Filming Locations:

Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amuse,Career & Bridge,T.O. Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as Apartment 1303 3D (2012)

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Soundtracks

Clover
Performed by Bahashishi

User Reviews

J-Horror with an American Remake to follow

Starting about ten years ago an explosion of Asian horror movies made their way to the United States and many have been remade. "The Ring" and "The Grudge" being the most popular of the dozen or so remakes. The Japanese movie "Apartment 1303" was released in 2007 and is now being remade with Mischa Barton starring. The remake has yet to be released and like most movies these day is in 3D.

The original "Apartment 1303" is quite similar in theme to "The Grudge" in that it revolves around the spirits of a mother and daughter that years back were involved in a murder suicide. The apartment is now cursed and infects all of the future female tenants. Asian horror films almost always involves some sort of ghost story or restless spirit that wreaks havoc on the living from beyond the grave Sayaka is a young woman who gets a deal on her first apartment. So she throws a party to celebrate. She then unexpectedly jumps off the balcony to her death in front of everybody. Her sister Mariko is convinced that it wasn't a suicide and starts her own investigation. The girls' mother is so grief stricken that her favorite daughter has died she spirals into madness. Like a lot of J-Horror films, "Apartment 1303" relies a lot on atmosphere, suspense and creepiness. Mariko finds out that her sister is the fifth young woman to have jumped of the balcony and starts to see the ghosts of the mother and daughter who haunt the place.

The back story and origins of the curse are revealed and all of the horrible things that have happened there. The story is heavily structured and planned out, but is quite an enjoyable watch for the causal horror fan. This movie is apart of the Tartan Asian Extreme DVD series. Add it to your Netflix queue today.