The Possession Reviews

The only "scary" thing in this movie was how, besides the five core characters, there hardly ever seemed to be anyone around. I know extras cost money but, man, this was one barren flick. In a post Exorcist world you can't have an exorcism movie with cheap scares and no atmosphere. A year later Conjuring came out and showed them how to do it right. Had high hopes for a Jewish exorcism but even that was meh. Ah well, at least Matisyahu had a gig.

"This spirit is the taker of children..."

In short, The Possession is not bad. It's not a game-changing horror picture, nor is it a particularly remarkable effort. With that said, however, it fulfils its genre requirements in a satisfying fashion, providing a smattering of thrills and chills despite the restraints of its PG-13 rating. Problem is, it takes too long for the good stuff to kick in, leaving about an hour of pure mediocrity and boredom. The Possession carries the proverbial "Based upon true events" caption, as it was inspired by a Los Angeles Times article from 2004 which detailed ominous hauntings connected with an antique box purchased from eBay. It's a fascinating concept, providing ample opportunities for mindless ghost antics, but the end result ultimately falls short of its potential despite promising moments here and there. Surprisingly, The Possession was actually produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi, who was seemingly on autopilot for the duration of the production.

In Upstate New York, recently divorced high school basketball coach Clyde (Watchmen's Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is working to build a stronger relationship with daughters Hannah (Madison Davenport) and Em (Natasha Calis). Moving into a house of his own, Clyde plays it cool with his offspring when they stay for a weekend, buying them junk food and letting them have whatever they want from a yard sale. At said yard sale, Em picks up an ancient wooden box inscribed with Hebrew passages, which she grows obsessed with. As Em is drawn closer and closer to it, her personality alters and her behaviour grows erratic. Upon investigating, Clyde discovers the legend of the Dybbuk Box; a piece of Jewish folklore which unleashes a demonic spirit. Short on options, Clyde turns to a rabbi named Tzadok (Matisyahu) for help.

The Possession's structural building blocks are pure cliché, with a now-divorced father and a set of children who prefer their mother. Oh, and the mother is dating somebody else. It's basically Mrs. Doubtfire, only with more demons. And is it surprising to anyone that there's a subplot about Clyde pursuing a new job that will require him to move? The Judaism angle helps to distinguish The Possession from more generic efforts (exorcism films are more concerned with Roman Catholicism, after all), but this stuff is untouched until the final third, after which screenwriters Juliet Snowden and Stiles White return to screenwriting formula for a standard-issue climax involving chases and exorcisms. The storytelling is fairly sloppy, too, with Clyde's ex-wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) stubbornly refusing to believe that anything serious is amiss with Emily even when she turns into a snarling, pasty-faced zombie. Furthermore, a major character hastily leaves the film under inconclusive circumstances, never to be seen again.

Although the film is exceedingly mediocre, director Ole Bornedal gets major credit for not making it as a found footage production. (Let's not forget the utter debacle of The Devil Inside.) And at times, Bornedal's handling of the material is truly outstanding, resulting in a few insanely atmospheric and creepy moments, not to mention some expositional scenes that build a nice sense of foreboding. Anchoring the picture is Morgan, submitting an effective performance which paints Clyde as an everyman. Morgan nails the role's vulnerabilities and adds heart, shedding tears multiple times to powerful effect. However, it's the young actresses playing the daughters who run away with the movie. Calis and Davenport look and interact like real sisters, and the girls handle the requirements of their roles with a confidence rarely seen in child actors. Most impressive is Calis, who runs through various personalities and emotions yet never seems faux or contrived. However, The Possession is a PG-13 film, and this is obvious. At times, the film pushes the boundaries of its rating with dark and violent material, but this only serves to show us what we could've been in for if the picture was a hard-R.

In better hands, the same filmmaking ingredients could have yielded an overall superior effort, but the film we have is purely mediocre. Rather than flat-out terrifying and enthrallingly creepy, The Possession springs to life in fits and starts, with Bornedal only sporadically figuring out how to scare us. Otherwise, all we get are jump-scares underscored by commanding musical cues, and a number of scenes of lifeless character interaction. Despite the Jewish flavour, the film is every bit as generic as its title, though horror aficionados may find this to be worthwhile as a rental.

6.1/10

I was expecting for this film to scare the crap out of my friends and I since the trailer looked scary enough and also because it was based on a real story. But the trailer was very misleading and the anticipation it evoked was met with a surprisingly sad family drama, not a horror movie. I found myself sad for the father, who was misunderstood half of the time, and pitied the daughter who only wanted her parents to get back together. Had this not been a horror flick, I think it would have done much better because it failed to deliver what a scary movie is supposed to: fear of the unknown ghost/demon that may possibly be lurking beside the viewer.
After a couple of minutes of watching an old lady trying to destroy an old wooden box, but is beaten with an unseen entity, the movie’s main protagonist is Clyde, a somewhat successful basketball coach, is introduced. He is now gathering his things from the home he used to share with his ex-wife, Stephanie. It appears that they have joint custody of their 2 daughters, Emily and Hannah. The horror begins shortly after he brings the children to his new home, in a dark and lonely looking residential area. While they are out, Hannah spots a garage sale and points out to her father that they he needs plates, and so they begin to rummage through the items. Emily finds a medium sized wooden box with strange carvings, and quickly takes interest. Clyde pays for the things his daughters have gathered, and has has unwittingly bought his youngest daughter, Emily, a demon encased box.
We follow the gradual and distinct changes that Emily goes through because of the demon’s influence. She starts talking about an imaginary friend, shows signs of obsessing over the box, and openly states her disapproval with both of her parents. The already shaky relationship Clyde has with his children and ex-wife is further strained, and at one point severed, because of the now demon possessed Emily. Strange and evil things begin to happen at home and at school. Emily’s teacher is killed by the same entity that lives within the box, and Emily begins to consume large amounts of food, and at one time explains that, “she’s still hungry”, referring to the demon that has now found a home within her. With all of these creepy and disturbing scenes, it should have been easy to play with the viewers’ imagination and make this movie an unforgettable one, but as we continued to watch it, I noticed that the focus of the story is not on the demon or on the girl, but on the relationship of the characters. From Clyde’s conversations with Stephanie, we find out that he was an absentee father whose priority was his coaching, which led to their divorce, and that their 2 children could not be more different. Hannah appears to be part of the popular crowd, fixated on dancing and Emily is the quiet, sensitive and sweet one. Of course, knowing the characters like this is supposed to be a good thing, but for me, a horror movie is supposed to make a person feel alone, because this is where fear begins. You’re not supposed to relate to whatever the character is going through and be emotional, unless you’re watching a drama. The fear that translated across the screen was for one’s family member, not for one’s safety. I completely lost the feeling that I was watching a horror movie when Clyde broke down in front of several grown men in a Jewish Temple, upon learning that the demon, Dybukk, would take over and ultimately kill his daughter. Even Matisyahu being part of the cast could not make this film enjoyable and worth watching in the cinema. By the end of the movie, I began to miss my family, instead of thinking what could be hiding in the shadows as I went home.
The effects weren’t bad, but they failed to shock, as one would expect of a horror flick. The scene that I liked, and reminded me what kind of movie it was trying to be, was the part where Emily was checking out her throat in front a mirror, and she suddenly saw fingers reaching out. And when they were scanning her body in the hospital and they saw the figure of the dybbuk literally inside her body. Aside from that, even the occasional scary voice from a little girl wasn’t enough to even surprise us.
The only interesting thing that I got out of this movie, was the jewish demon, dybukk. I had never read or heard of it before so it was pretty cool knowing something new. Although the concept of trapping evil within a certain container is common, it was a good idea. If only they had presented differently, it would have been good.

Surprisingly pretty good and entertaining flick. Some genuinely creepy moments and solid performances. There are some flaws, but for me the good outweighed the bad. Overall, this was a fun late summer movie going experience. 7/10