Awesome movie quotes: American Beauty (1999)

"Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the high point of my day, it's all downhill from here."

Awesome movie quotes: Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)

"Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes."

Awesome movie quotes: Road House (1989)

"I got married to an ugly woman. Don't ever do that, it just takes the energy right out of you. She left me, though. Found somebody even uglier than she was. That's life. Who can explain it?"

Awesome movie quotes: Road House (1989)

"A polar bear fell on me."

Awesome Movie Quotes: American Beauty (1999)

"Uh, whose car is that out front?"

"Mine. 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!"

Awesome movie quotes: Airplane II: the Sequel (1982)

"Jacobs, what have you got on Elaine Dickinson?"

"Well, I'm two inches taller, a better dancer, and much more fun to be with."

Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

People in the Movie: R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket), Andrew Bryniarski (Higher Learning)
Director: Jonathon Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans, Darkness Falls)
Piegonhole: Horror / Teen Slasher/ Torture-porn

In a Nutshell: This is a direct prequel to the 2003 Michael Bay remake version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  It serves as an origin story to the Hewitt family, and basically how they came to be the cannibalistic, mass-murdering white trash we have previously encountered.
**spoiler alert** The film opens with a woman giving birth to a deformed baby onto the floor of a nasty looking slaughterhouse where she was just working.  A little later another filthy looking girl with no shoes is seen trash picking at the slaughterhouse and finds the baby in a dumpster wrapped in butcher paper.  She picks the baby up, names him, and takes him home with her to raise as her own.  The baby, of course, will grow up to be Thomas "Leatherface" Hewitt.
30 years later we see adult Thomas (Bryniarski) working in the same slaughterhouse from earlier, but that it is being shut down by the Health Department due to its putrid conditions.  After being dismissed by an assistant manager, Thomas decides to crush his boss' head with a sledgehammer.  We then see him pick up a chainsaw on his way out of the building.
The local sheriff named Hoyt is alerted about Thomas' attack so he goes to the Hewitt farm and has Charlie Hewitt (Ermey) come with him to assist in the arrest.  Hoyt exits the police car to confront Thomas in the middle of street, but Charlie comes up from behind with a shotgun, and kills the sheriff.  Charlie and Thomas take Hoyt's body back to their house, and butcher his body to eat.  Charlie cleans up the uniform and informs the family at dinner that he is assuming the mantle of Sheriff Hoyt, and the Hewitts will never go hungry again, as they begin to feed on Hoyt's remains that were stewed - implying that Charlie will now lure and kill people, using the sheriff uniform as a disguise, so that they can all eat human flesh. 
So enter our protagonists - two brothers, and their 2 girlfriends are travelling across Texas and are unfortunately going to become victims of the Hewitts.  They have a car accident after a female biker pulls a gun on them driving up a 2 lane road.  The biker is killed immediately upon Charlie's arrival at the scene - he shoots her.  The other four end up back at the Hewitt's farm and spend the rest of the afternoon/evening being tortured and eventually killed by Charlie and Thomas.  The biker's boyfriend also gets mixed up in the foray and gets chainsawed in half, as well.  We also learn that Thomas is not a great doctor.
What was lame:
- This did not really feel like an origin story.  There was no transformation of any of the Hewitts from working class Texas folk to mass-murders, it's more like they were portrayed already this "way", we were just being shown some of the victims.
- The 4 "kids" - (character names) Chrissie, Bailey, Dean and Eric were not really memorable, nor were they portrayed as likable, in my opinion.   
- There were too many moments were it appeared that the kids could have escaped their confines or "fought back" at times, but chose not to.  It felt like the characters on screen were just going through the motions almost resigned to their oncoming demises.  I should note that Dean (Taylor Handley) does die fighting with Thomas helping Chrissie, and that it actually appeared as if Chrissie (Jordana Brewster) had a real shot at getting away near the end, but Thomas dispatches her too.
- There was very little in the way of plot and nothing new was brought to the Texas Chainsaw mythos.  This film relied almost exclusively on the torture and killings to fill the minutes.
What worked:
- For a prequel/sequel it did not disappoint as far as gore and splatter.
- The film has a very good soundtrack and score.
- We learn how Charlie lost his teeth (it was not from neglect), and how Uncle Monty lost his legs (he should have gone to the doctor).
- Bryniarski is a physically intimidating presence as Thomas/Leatherface, and filled the scenes he was in perfectly for a horror movie character.  I wish just a little more focus could have been put onto his character.
- The scenery looked hot, dirty, and vile, so I have to compliment the production crew for that.

Recommendation: If you watched the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, then should probably see this.  It can still work as a standalone, purely as a splatter film- there is nothing that goes on that the viewer would not understand.   'R' rating is for heavy violence, languague, and gore.  There is an 'unrated' cut that is 7-8 minutes longer than the 'R' version, it just has more on-screen carnage.

Extras:
- MPAA had originally rated it 'NC-17', so 17 scenes had to get cut/edited to get to an 'R' rating 
- there were no plans for a sequel to the 2003 TCM remake, but fan interest and contacting the producers spawned this installment

Awesome movie quotes: Road House (1989)

"... I'll tell you what, for 20 bucks - you can kiss 'em."

"Are you serious!?"

"10 a kiss, here and now."

"...buddy, what are you doin', are you gonna kiss 'em or not?"

"I can't..."

"Whatta you mean you can't?"

"I ain't got 20 bucks."

Awesome movie quotes: The Number 23 (2007)

"I am in prison for a crime I didn't commit, Mr. Sparrow. But somehow I think your problems are bigger than mine."

Awesome movie quotes: Road House (1989)

"Man, this toilet is worse than the one that we worked in Dayton."

(more than a) Quick Look: Priest (2011)

People in the Movie: Paul Bettany (Legion, The Da Vinci Code), Maggie Q (TV's Nikita, Mission Impossible III), Karl Urban (Dredd, Star Trek/2009)
Director: Scott Stewart
Piegonhole: Action / Comic Book / Apocalypse

Basics: The war between humans and vampires has raged for centuries.  The earth has been severely damaged and the remaining humans have been forced to live in walled cities ruled by a group called The Church.  Superhuman warriors trained by The Church called Priests finally turn the tide of the war with most of the vampires being killed, and the remaining ones being placed in prison camps called Reservations.  The Church then disbands the Priests declaring the war over.
The vampires were not, however, eradicated.  With a rebuilt vampire "army", an evil super-human (credited as The Hat) decides to wage another war on the human population.  A girl named Lucy (Lily Collins) is kidnapped from her home out in the Wasteland by The Hat (Urban), so Priest (Bettany) now has to get involved because Lucy is his niece.  The Church informs Priest he is not authorized to do this, so he in turn breaks his vow and proceeds forward to battle the rising evil.  Priest is based on a Korean comic.

My Take: This is a reasonably paced film, with several good action sequences and above average special effects.  The vampires are monster-like creatures instead of being sexy humans with fangs, which is a nice variance in this time of Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries.  The movie does look and feel like a comic book come-to-life with the scenery, stunt work, predictability and overly simplistic dialogue.
**spoiler alert** 
After Priest leaves, The Church sends 4 more reactivated Priests to stop Priest.  This group of 4 is led by Priestess (Maggie Q) who quickly splits from the other 3 to assist Priest in his quest, because she has feelings for him.  The Hat, we learn is actually a former Priest, and former friend of Priest, who was captured by the vampires and turned into a superhuman-vampire-like creature by being fed the blood of the queen vampire.  The Hat's goal is to lead the vampires into the human cities to eradicate humans once and for all.  After several action sequences including a final stand on a moving train The Hat and the vampires are destroyed by Priest and Priestess.  Lucy is also rescued.
In the final scene Priest informs the head of The Church that the queen vampire was not on the train and may be building another vampire army, so all the Priests need to be reinstated.
 
What was lacking: The movie was only 87 minutes long, so there was little to no development of anything plotwise outside of stringing together the action sequences.  We learn almost nothing about human life inside the walled cities, or about humans trying to reestablish outside the walls in the Wasteland (as it is called).
- The characters and dialogue, as I mentioned, were so overly simplistic that I think it detracted from the movie.  I think they could have cut half of the script and relied more on "strong, silent" action than to have dumbed this down to the level it was presented.
- As I am often fond of saying, I wonder what hit the cutting room floor, because there were multiple well-established actors in Priest, that had almost no screen time.  Specifically - Christopher Plummer, Brad Dourif, and Stephen Moyer.
- The reveal about the creation of The Hat seemed a little weak.  There was no development about his proverbial rise to power.  It is possible the back story was developed a little better, but the footage did not make it to the screen.  Even weaker than these issues was his eventual demise.

What did work: As I already noted, the action sequences pretty much drove the film.  I don't know how much of their own stunts the actors did, but the scenes were entertaining.
- The sets, props, costumes,  and scenery did work well to create the burnt out, dystopian world that these characters lived in.
- I am glad, as previously stated, that something different was done with the vampires rather than some lame variation of an infected human with fangs.

Recommendation: If you like the look and feel of a comic book/graphic novel style movie, the you should enjoy Priest.  It is lacking in depth and development, but is still an enjoyable film.  It plays out like the idealistic cop /warrior/ fighter who has to break the rules to save his family "story".  In this case the bad guys happen to be vampires.  PG-13 rating is for violence, and "gore" - mostly from when the vampires are killed.

Extras:
- The movie was held for release in multiple instances - which usually is not a good sign
- The theatrical release was in 3D - which may have added a little something to the presentation
- I watched the standard release on cable.  There is an unrated version on DVD/Blu-Ray that may offer something more to the story.


  

Awesome movie quotes: The Number 23 (2007)

"...so is 23 a blessing or a curse?"

Review: Headhunters (2011)

People in the Movie: Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (TV's Game of Thrones), Synnove Macody Lund
Director: Morten Tyldum
Pigeonhole: Suspense / Thriller / Crime Mystery

Basics: Roger Brown (Hennie) is Norway's top corporate headhunter.  To keep up his lavish lifestyle and attractive wife Diana (Lund) showered with gifts, Roger supplements his income in other ways.  He steals valuable works of art, with the assistance of a friend who works for a security company.  Roger meets a man named Clas Greve (Coster-Waldau) who he learns has a rare, valuable painting that Roger decides to target for theft.  Two problems: Clas is ex-military whose specialty was tracking criminals, and that Clas is interested in Diana.  Roger may be in over his head, and the results will be deadly.

Recommendation: I highly recommend seeing this film, it is paced perfectly and the thrills are genuine in that they are relying on good, believable acting and action, as opposed to special effects.  'R' rating is for language, violence, nudity and sexual content.  Also - the spoken language is Norwegian.

My Take:**spoiler alert**  Where most films have peaks and valleys as far as plot development and action goes, Headhunters is one of the rare instances where once the action gets going - starting with the theft Clas' painting - it never seems to slow down until the conclusion.  It is also at this moment that we see Roger as an almost sympathetic character, despite his previous criminal actions.
The night after Roger has stolen the painting he goes out to his car to find his friend Ove slumped across the front of Roger's car, apparently dead.  Roger panics, knowing that he and Ove's criminal enterprise has caught up with them.  He quickly places Ove's body into the trunk of his car, and sits down on a sharp object hidden in his car seat.  Upon examination, Roger discovers it was a syringe-like device previously filled with poison, that was clearly intended for himself, but Ove must have been poisoned getting into Roger's car the night before to retrieve the stolen painting to go sell for their bounty.  Roger then drives to a lake and throws Ove's body in, now visibly feeling guilty about his friend's death - except, Ove comes to - so Roger dives into the water and pulls him out.  Ove had apparently knelt on the syringe instead of sitting on it, so even though he did receive a does of the poison, it was not fatal.  The two head to Ove's cabin, but his condition quickly deteriorates from the poison that remains and he begins pleading for Roger to call him a doctor.  Ove is soon dead, but not from the poisoning...
Roger leaves the cabin, and standing outside is Clas, holding a machete, and being accompanied by his large, scary looking attack dog.  Roger narrowly escapes and now decides to try to hide out at another cabin he sometimes stays at.  However, Clas soon shows up and Roger realizes that he is somehow being tracked.  A very thrilling cat and mouse chase ensues, in which Roger must also now evade the police, too.  Some of highlights include: hiding in an outhouse; getting arrested; rolling in a car down an embankment; and being attacked by a former "friend" who is in cahoots with Clas.
While Clas seems to be moving through the scenes with cold determination and precision, Roger always seems to be able to use his mind and be a half of a step ahead of Clas' reach.  Just when all seems to be headed towards disaster, Roger goes home to confess to his wife about his prior crimes and what is happening now with Clas.  He is then finally able to turn the tables on his pursuer, and a trap is sprung.  While I will not spoil the final outcome here, I should note that one real ironic element we do learn is that the rare painting Roger stole from Clas was a fake.

Extra:  
- There is an American (and likely inferior) remake of this film scheduled for production now

Review: 28 Days Later (2002)

People in the Movie: Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Inception), Naomie Harris ( Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3, Skyfall)
Director: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire)
Pigeonhole: Thriller / Horror/ Zombie

Basics: **spoiler alert** A man named Jim (Murphy) awakens from a coma in a hospital in London.  He wanders the seemingly empty hospital yelling for assistance, but to no avail.  Jim proceeds out to the streets seeing signs of "trouble" but still no people are visible or responding to him.  That is until he comes across a church and is attacked by a small group of people who seem seem to be suffering from some kind of disease.  The attackers all appear to be crazed, bloodthirsty lunatics, resembling something more animalistic than human.  At the last moment before certain death at the hands of these monsters Jim is rescued by Selena (Harris) and Mark, who blow up the attackers with a Molotov cocktail.  The three leave the area to a hideout in the London Underground and then tell Jim about what has happened while he was in a coma.
An infection broke out which spread very quickly and turned the populace into beings like the ones they just encountered.  The government was unable to quell the spread of this virus and society has basically collapsed.  They tell Jim that they heard the infection was reported in Paris and New York, too.
Mark is soon killed, but Jim and Selena meet up with 2 other survivors hiding out in some apartments; Frank and his daughter Hannah.  Frank plays a recording he has heard being broadcast about a military blockade near Manchester, where they supposedly have found the cure for this infection.  The group of 4 leave for this location, but soon learn that the infected are not the only people they should fear.

Recommendation:  This is an excellent film that is far beyond a typical zombie/ horror/ splatter film - so don't let those monikers scare you off.  This film is as much survival story and/or post-apocalyptic human story as it is a horror movie.  'R' rating is for violence, language, and brief nudity.

What I Liked: I personally don't even think "zombie" is a correct descriptor to use when talking about this movie.  The characters used the words "rage" and "infected" when speaking about the monster like former-humans who were attacking the remaining population, which I think fits perfectly. 
- The opening sequences, both in the lab when the activists release the infected chimp to start the initial contagion, and then Jim awakening from his coma were both perfect.  From the moment the chimp attacks the first activist, to when Jim  finally encounters some of the infected, was extremely tense and almost felt like a dream/nightmare sequence.  Very well shot and directed.
- The characters throughout the film were well cast, and well acted.  No one appeared out of place or whose on-screen demeanors did not fit.  Murphy and Harris especially shined in their roles.  Murphy maintained the somewhat innocent victim of circumstance until the end and transformed beautifully, while Harris showed what a person would do in order to survive many life threatening situations.
- I was very impressed with the shots of London as an abandoned "ghost town",  it did not look mocked up with a bunch of special effects.  The film, in general, has a very organic feel without it being the handheld POV style horror film that is dominating the horror landscape now.  The look and feel of the film, overall, is near perfect, in my opinion.
- I liked the idea that once pushed so far, Jim transformed into something as intense and angry as one of the infected.  Boyle made an excellent metaphoric point that maybe the infected and humans were much more similar than we would like to admit in our own minds.

What Was Questionable: As I noted above, I do not consider this a zombie movie, per se.  The promotion of 28 Days Later touted it as "the new vision" of zombie movies.  Fair enough.  The vampire as a character has split into many different forms and figures in the movies, so in theory zombies can too.
- The plot element that the group of soldiers put out the broadcast solely to lure to women to capture and rape seemed quite ludicrous to me.  I understand that Boyle and Alex Garland (the writer) were trying to illustrate that faced with the surrounding circumstances, even upstanding military personnel would degenerate into thugish cavemen with guns - no better than the infected.  I just think that it could have been executed better, personally.

In Conclusion: 28 Days Later is is very much worth seeing, even for non-horror fans.  I feel more of the focus is on the human actions and reactions in the face of this viral apocalypse.

Extras:
- There were several alternate endings that should be checked out on the DVD/ Blu Ray
- The US release for this film was actually 2003
- The sequel is called 28 Weeks Later and was out in 2007



 
 

Trivia: 28 Days Later (2002)

- We never learn the last names of the main characters Jim, Selena, Hannah, and Frank

- Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling were both early choices to play the role of Jim

- The film crew had not immediately picked up the fake dead bodies from the execution pit after filming was wrapped up.  A woman driving saw them and crashed her car after freaking out, and the police had to come out.

- Danny Boyle (director) and Alex Garland (writer) re-imagined the "zombie genre" while making this.  They focused on more contemporary societal-level fears, like a viral apocalypse, which were inspired by bio-attacks involving anthrax and mad-cow diesease. 
- Additionally, the virus was imagined to affect people "differently" with rage they he or she have already had inside.  The 'rage'/ infection idea was based on the idea that everyone may experience social rages - like road rage, or workplace rage, in one form or another.

7 Little Known Facts: Se7en (1995)

- All of the notebooks/ composition books in John Doe's aparment were "real" - that they were filled up with writing, and it took 2 months to complete them - which was the same amount of time Somerset estimated it would take to read them all

- Denzel Washington was offered the part of Mills, which he turned down, but later regretted after watching it

- Kevin Spacey wasn't cast as John Doe until two days before filming began

- John Doe isn't actually seen killing anyone in the movie

- The city that the film takes place in never "named"

- Seven minutes into the film is when Mills is notified of the first murder; with 7 minutes remaining Somerset notes "he will win".

- Spacey wasn't billed in the opening credits and did not receive any billing in the press release to hide his idenity as the killer

(beyond a) Quick Look: Grave Encounters (2011)

Grave Encounters is found-footage/POV-style horror film that was written and directed by The Vicious Brothers (aka Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz).  It is 'Not Rated', but I would treat it like an 'R' for language, scary images, and implied violence.  Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir, Juan Riedinger, and Mackenzie Gray play the ill-fated crew.
The Basics: **spoiler alert** The production crew of a reality TV show called 'Grave Encounters' goes to the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital to film an episode.  They are investigating possible paranormal activity and happenings that have supposedly been reported.  After a brief tour by the caretaker, and some historical facts presented about the facility, the five team members are voluntarily locked inside to hopefully gather evidence about the building being haunted.  None of them are ever seen again.

What I Liked: I thought the movie did a good job to crescendo the intensity of the plot beginning to end.  The first 15 or so minutes we see that the crew are skeptical about the whole "haunting", in fact, going so far as to bribe a groundskeeper to say for their footage he saw "something" and that he was scared.
After being locked in, the crew wander around various parts of the old asylum for hours (and stupidly making taunts for the spirits to make their presence known) but not finding any evidence of paranormal activity.  That is until they are almost ready to leave.  Things start off small - a window opening by itself, a room getting cold, and then tussling a girl's hair - but quickly degenerate into something much worse.
- The time comes for the crew to leave, but the caretaker does not show up.  With the tension mounting they break through the door to leave this horrific place, but the exit does not go to the outside any longer, it leads to another endless corridor.  Checking their watches, they all notice it is still dark outside even though it should be daytime.  One crew member disappears but is later located in a hospital gown ranting about "needing to get better so he can leave".  He eventually kills himself.  A camera man is pulled into bathtub that is filled with blood and disappears.  A psychic on the team becomes separated from the group after a female ghost approaches them in a patient's old room, and is subsequently killed by an unseen force.  The footage does a great job to show the deteriorating mental states of the survivors, as well their continued fear and "submission" to the fact that they are likely going to die in this building.
- The final survivor finds himself in the basement and come across evidence that one of the asylum's crazy doctors may have been involved in black magic.  He sees 3 ghosts in an old operating suite and is then grabbed and lobotomized by the doctor.  Very creepy ending.
- I think the movie did an excellent job of making you feel trapped in the labyrinth along with the crew, as well as fearful of what could be around the next corner or in the corner of a room.  I thought the idea that the ghosts were now treating the crew like patients in the hospital was a brilliant plot item.        
- Overall there was a decent mix of stationary camera shots with the handheld footage; you don't feel like you are constantly in motion.  I should note here that the last 10-15 minutes were almost exclusively handheld.
- I liked the look of the demonic patients, simple and scary without being totally overboard. 
- I appreciated the minimalist approach to the interior of the hospital - that being almost nothing except for a few wheelchairs and doors taken off of their hinges.  It made it much easier for the audience to be able to focus on the character actions and nuances.

Other Thoughts: Aside from being set in a old psychiatric hospital (which I am big fan of, by the way), the movie very clearly borrowed (or paid homage to) scenes from House on Haunted Hill (1999) - those being a person being pulled into a tub filled with blood, and the shot of the crazy doctor and nurses looking up from a "surgery" directly into the character's handheld video camera, and said character then being attacked.  The bathtub scene was congruent with a plot reveal that a former patient had committed suicide there, so I have no problem with that.  However, I think that the resemblance of the evil doctor in this film was a little too borrowed from its predecessor.  A small point, but I feel worth noting.
- Grave Encounters also had the (somewhat now cliche) 'Blair Witch' feel to it; a crew of amateur film makers/researchers going to make a documentary style movie, getting "lost" or trapped as it were, and then deteriorating into complete insanity.  Again - I am not noting this as a criticism per se, but this does make the flow of the film feel more predictable.  
- I did not think it was necessary to reveal that black magic was possibly being used, unless that was supposed to mean that they were able to keep haunting that place specifically because of the black magic.
- Maybe I have seen too many horror films now, but 2 of the characters were so blindingly horror movie cliche, it almost hurt - those stereotypes being: the overly scared female, and the loud, combative minority.
- I guess I felt unsure "why" the ghosts of the patients were there.  Were they imprisoned there or were these just demons who looked like former patients?  I get why the doctor and nurses would be stuck there - because they were killed in the hospital for their barbaric treatment of the residents - but wouldn't the formerly mistreated patients want to help anyone who became trapped there?  Or at least appear to look like they were victims of the doctor (lobotomies/ shock treatment victims) and were stuck in limbo?  Maybe that is just grousing on my part, but they are elements that could have made this a "great" film.

In Conclusion: Even though the movie was somewhat predictable and may have borrowed from some other prior horror films, I found it enjoyable and definitely recommend seeing it.
- Grave Encounters 2 came out in 2012

Has this happened before? Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day.
How many times have you seen Bill Murray's classic tale of a man stuck in a 24 time warp reliving the same day over and over and over and over again?

Have a sweet vermouth on the rocks, with a twist, and tell us.
Don't rob any banks, or drive on the train tracks.

Review: Apartment 143 (2012)

People in the Movie: Kai Lennox (TV's The Unusuals), Michael O'Keefe (Caddyshack, TV's Roseanne), Gia Mantegna
Director: Carles Torrens
Pigeonhole: Horror / POV - Found Footage "style"

Basics: Alan White (Lennox), his daughter Caitlin (Mantegna), and son Benny have been experiencing happenings in their run down apartment.  Alan contacts Dr. Helzer (O'Keefe), a paranormal investigator, to examine what the cause might be.  Helzer and his team arrive and install video cameras throughout the apartment and record multiple instances of what appears to be a violent ghost or spirit.  But not all is what it seems.

Recommendation: If you enjoy the faux-investigation POV style of horror movie, then Apartment 143 is worth checking out.  'R' rating is for language and violence.

My Thoughts: **spoiler alert** The first half of the movie is a formulaic set up of scary images, interviews, and cliche POV moments.  We see the family members show the continual strain and stress of the situation, especially the teenaged Caitlin lashing out towards her father.  Helzer, with his 2 assistants, gather footage and try to look at the evidence "scientifically".  Alan thinks that "something" followed his family after his wife died and they moved to the apartment - implying that maybe it is her.  Helzer does not seem convinced.  About 45 minutes in, after several encounters and even one recorded visual of what appears to be a spirit, Helzer informs Alan that what is happening is not a ghost or haunting.  Helzer instead notes that the objects being thrown around, the people being assaulted, the ghostly image, etc... is, instead, being done psycho-kinetically.
Helzer digs a little deeper and discovers Alan's deceased wife was "likely" schizophrenic and that Caitlin is showing signs of schizophrenia's onset.  And that is likely what is happening, Caitlin is projecting the actions through her mind.
The concluding scene was interesting - everyone has left the apartment after the summary about Caitlin's mental state, but a rolling shot from one of the stationary cameras, however, shows a ghost crawling towards the lens.  (A possible sequel coming?)

The Good: I appreciated the effort to attempt to not make this not a ghost or straight haunting story like Paranormal Activity.  Lennox was easily the best character showing a father trying to do what was best for his two kids, but slowly deteriorating under the circumstances.  Fiona Glascot played one of Helzer's assistants and I liked her balance of being an impartial investigator but still showing concern for the Whites.
There were some intense moments that built some good tension.  Nothing looked too overly mocked up as far as effects went, so it felt that much more believable.  I liked how Gia Mantegna's character came off as the strong willed, defiant teenager.
The Bad: I am truly in the dark about if the director wanted us to think that Helzer was right, and Caitlin was creating the activity and destruction around her family with her mind, or there was actually a ghost there and that Helzer was wrong.  Different scenes and dialogue, including the conclusion, would have us to believe very different things.  I don't mind ambiguity, but I don't like total confusion, which is where this film left me.
There were no "jump" moments where I truly felt scared.  I guess because there are so many similar movies in this genre that there would have been at least one or two really great moments to separate it from the proverbial pack, but there weren't.
There was a scene where a psychic was brought to the apartment to make contact with "the other side".  I think this was yet another confusing moment for me, because I got nothing out of the scene towards the plot.  
On the fence: O'Keefe's character came off as burned-out, but he always seemed to know more than than the other characters and the audience.  It almost appeared at times like he was a skeptic of anything supernatural.  When the worst of the haunting action was taking place, and when he would make his reveals or his suppositions to Alan and his team, his delivery came off as almost nonchalant.  I am sure this was direction but something just did not seem right about it - like he would look at the camera as if to share an inside joke, yet no one knows what the joke is.


In Conclusion: Years from now, when fans look back at some of the best of the horror/POV footage movies, this will not be listed as one of them.  However, Apartment 143 is worth seeing for some good acting, and some tense scenes.