29th Apr2022

‘Room 203’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Francesca Xuereb, Viktoria Vinyarska, Eric Wiegand, Scott Gremillion, Rick LaCour, Quinn Nehr, Sam A Coleman, Timothy McKinney | Written by Ben Jagger, John Poliquin, Nick Richey | Directed by Ben Jagger

Based on a Japanese novel by writer Nanami Kamon and made with the participation of Japanese producers, I was expecting Room 203 to be yet another Anglicised J-horror in the mould of The Grudge but that’s not exactly what we get. Whilst yes, there may be some elements of J-horror for the most part this is a traditional haunted house movie. Only a hunted house movie that spends a LOT of its running time concentrating on the relationship between the two protagonists. Two broken, fragile women who both bring a lot of baggage to their new co-habiting life.

Room 203 sees lifelong friends Kim and Izzy move into the titular, quirky apartment with a creepy medieval stained glass window, Kim slowly becomes convinced that their new home may be haunted. With help from her new boyfriend Ian, Kim investigates the tortured history of the apartment, discovering a string of disappearances of former residents, a murder mystery from half a century ago, and an ancient curse that threatens to possess Izzy and kill Kim…

Opening with a glimpse into just what awaits Izzy and Kim, Room 203 follows a lengthy tradition of spooky apartments with weird things in the walls. And by lengthy trading I mean the film features pretty much every cliche and follows every trope of the film like this that have come before it. The only original aspect of the film is the relationship between Izzy and Kim – their fragility and their emotions. Issues offering a greater depth to proceedings. So much so that even the film has each questioning if what’s happening is down to the other rather than external forces.

But yes, there are external forces at work and not only of the supernatural variety. We get a creepy landlord along with spooks, ghouls, a haunted stained glass window and a terrifying killer necklace. Talk about throwing in everything but the kitchen sink! And that’s the thing. There’s TOO much going on in Room 203 , with all the different aspects – especially where the horror of the film meets the drama of the two girls’ relationship, slowly the film down. Yes, we get films that are a slow burn, even in horror, but the slow burn of Room 203 is so slow it’s a crawl. It’s like being the passenger of a car whose driver won’t go over 10mph even on the motorway. Which means the film is a drag.

Well, at least until the final moments of the film. Where the horror of the film is unleashed, taking over the drama and providing a brief flurry of excitement before the film comes to an end. Which is undoubtedly a case of too little too late, unfortunately.

*½  1.5/5

Room 203 is available on VOD now.

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