The Apparition 2012

Andy Webster, New York Times: Lights flicker; soap and cactuses blacken; claw marks appear; icky molds gather like hornet nests. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's a potentially creepy setting that would give an innovative director a chance to do a lot with a little. Unfortunately, Lincoln isn't one of those. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: The entity is a ghostly presence amid an even ghostlier absence. This is truly distressed real estate. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: This horror movie from Warner Bros. is nothing special, but it's nice to see a modest genre entertainment buoyed by a major studio's resources. Read more

Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly: Might give you a restless night, but only because you fell asleep in the theater. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Mild scares and a go-nowhere climax haunt this suburbs-set debut. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: Something lacking either body heat or visceral suspense. Read more

Frank Lovece, Newsday: For casual viewers desiring a few scares, some suspense and a sustained sense of dread and malevolence, you could do worse. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: The movie loses goodwill early on by killing an adorable dog, resulting in a lack of an identification point, since the canine has better intuition than the humans. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: If you listen closely enough while things go bump in the night during The Apparition, you might also hear the scraping of barrel bottoms. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: The Apparition is not a great or even good haunted-house movie, but it does have the advantage of a memorable setting. Read more