Apparitional (Alternate Title: The Haunting Of Cellblock 11) is a Horror Movie by Andrew P. Jones.
Joel (Jeffrey Johnson), Kate (Linara Washington), Roger (John Zderko), and Berger (Charley Koontz) are the crew for a ghost hunting show called "Ghost Sightings". They've been traveling across America trying to find a place where they can find definite proof of ghosts existing. Sadly, all they've gotten is a few small noises and MAYBE something. As a result, they're overshadowed by other more popular ghost hunting shows, and their boss, Ms. Simon (Dee Wallace), is threatening to cancel the show.
They ultimately manage to get a break when an old man named Mr. Gaffney (Bill Lithgow) comes to them, telling them about some property he owns which he is certain beyond a shadow of a doubt is haunted. To prove this, he shows Joel the scars he got from when a ghost scratched him.
The location he sends them to is known as "Freeling State Penitentiary", an old prison that was closed down 10 years ago. Enthused, the team goes to the town it's in to check it out. Everyone there insists they turn around and go home, and that spending the night there would be suicide. Undeterred, however, and determined to get a worthwhile episode, the team decide to spend the night in the prison.
However, as the night goes on, it soon becomes clear they should've listened to the townspeople.
The film was funded on Indiegogo in May 2013, and released on March 4th, 2015.
Apparitional contains examples of:
- Ate His Gun: In one flashback, a guy is shown sticking a gun in his mouth.
- Chekhov's Gun: Berger obtained a device meant to dispel an electro-magnetic field, which will temporarily get rid of ghosts in the area. It's dismissed at first because it went against what the show was for (capturing evidence of ghosts), but vindicates itself later on when the crew need to escape a hostile spirit.
- Driven to Suicide: The ghost haunting the pizzeria committed suicide in the 1950s.
- Flashback: A number of sepia-toned flashbacks occur in the movie, showing the events that occurred in the locations past that lead to their hauntings.
- Ghostly Goals: The ghosts of Freeling State Penitentiary want revenge against the doctor who tortured and maimed them.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Kate and Joel have been trying to have a kid for a long time, but have had no luck in that department. A patron at a diner tells them it's because there's phantoms in Kate's system preventing that from happening.
- One-Word Title: With the "Apparitional" title, this trope certainly applies.
- The Reveal: Mr. Gaffney is revealed to have been the doctor at the penitentiary who tortured and maimed the prisoners. He sent the team to the prison because he thought they were exorcists who could get rid of the ghosts for him. Oh, and he's the one who chained the door shut.
- Show Within a Show: Ghost Sightings, which Joel, Kate, Roger, and Berger work on.
- Will-o'-Wisp: The ghosts can take the form of a little ball of light.
