WCB Movie Writer
Director-Ole Bornedal Produced by Sam Raimi Studio-Ghost House Pictures Starring-Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick Rating-3 out of 4 stars |
When people hear
that the newest horror flick coming to theaters is about possession, people
count down the days until they get to see it, theaters are packed, and popcorn
starts to fly as people jump and watch little girls become possessed.
The newest
possession movie, The Possession is
based on a true story, or so they say but I would put money on it that the
entire hour and a half was completely exaggerated. Every horror film these days
is “based on a true story.” How many psycho ghosts and demons could possibly be
out there?
It resembles
almost every cliché possession movie ever released by following a young girl
who starts acting oddly, becomes belligerent, curses in every sentence, then her
family figures out she’s possessed, and find someone to perform an exorcism. So
while it possesses, pun intended, cliché horror story lines, it does have
unique plot points and does provide scary scenes.
It follows
divorced couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)
and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) and their two daughters. At a yard
sale, the youngest daughter Em (Natasha Calis) has her eye set on a wooden box
with ancient carvings on it. Dad buys it for her and she and the box become
inseparable. As time goes on, the parents notice their daughter acting oddly,
becoming erratic, and finally discover that the box was built to contain a
dibbuk, an evil ancient Jewish possessing spirit that devours its human host.
The family decides to find and bring in a Jewish man named Tzadok (Matisyahu) to
help save the young girl.
The daughter who becomes
possessed, Em, was fantastic. Actress Natasha Calis did a phenomenal job at
being creepy as hell. Thank goodness her performance was great because if not,
the film would have fallen apart. The new take on the Jewish religion was a
nice change. There were also a lot of creepy scenes. I won’t give any away but
some had me cringing, jumping, and frozen in fear until it ended.
There are also some
unintentional humor and some intentional. Some scenes lighten the mood while others,
which were meant to be scary, but when an invisible spirit is throwing around
people against walls, it just looks silly. The special effects were pretty good
and the music added to the film’s creepiness. I wish the exorcism scene lasted
a little longer than it did. There was plenty of creepy stuff before but during
the actual exorcism is when the possessed, in any movie, become even more terrifying.
But all in all, it gets my
stamp of approval. The Exorcist, the
original, has definitely influenced many films in Hollywood, and certainly has
influenced The Possession, but since
the director, Ole Bornedal and producer Sam Raimi, added new flavors to the
mix, it made this demon possessing film one of the better ones.
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