The Possession (2012):

Starring:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Clyde

Natasha Calis - Em

Kyra Sedgwick - Stephanie

Jay Brazeau - Professor McMannis

Madison Davenport - Hannah

Matisyahu - Tzadok

Grant Snow - Brett

Rob LaBelle - Russell

Director:

Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch)

Synopsis:

Clyde and Stephanie Brenek see little cause for alarm when their youngest daughter Em becomes oddly obsessed with an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. But as Em's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, the couple fears the presence of a malevolent force in their midst, only to discover that the box was built to contain a dibbuk, a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host.

Review:

Well after reviewing The Innkeepers which was AWESOME. I now review this. Which was... not as awesome. Every year Hollywood pumps out 4 or 5 possession movies. At all different levels. Most of them follow a very simple & formulaic story & plot. Lets run through the check list.

• Someone (Usually a child) becomes possessed by a demon or spirit = CHECK
• They being to act weird/different and/or act out = CHECK
• Parent(s) attempt to stop the possession themselves = CHECK
• Parent(s) look for guidance from a profession of ancient something = CHECK
• Parent(s) seek out a religious answer & convince them to do a exorcism = CHECK
• Christianity wins = NO CHECK

There where three very big deciding factors in me actually enjoying & liking this movie. Number one was the fact that it had Sam Raimi's name attached to it. Sam Raimi has done some of my favourite things in movies. Everything from The Evil Dead trilogy to Drag Me To Hell. Thus the reason why I saw this movie. Number two was that fact that I personally find Jeffrey Dean Morgan to be a pretty good actor when his heart is really into a film or TV show. Which it really seemed like he was trying his hardest to make his performance & the film his own personal baby. He had great range, great emotions. He was totally worth the price of admission (or illegal pirating whatever you want). The third factor was the small, yet very different twist the was put into the actual possession. *SPOILERS* The fact is that every exorcism is some christian priest who uses the power of Christ to force the demon or spirit or whatever it is out of the host, succeeding & Christianity looking like it's undefeatable. Well in this film you are not facing some Christian deity in fact you are up against a much older, much more powerful old school Jewish demon. Thus you must find an old school Jewish exorcist. Awesome twist that makes this film slightly different from the incredibly dull exorcism films of the past 5 years. Now to be fair though, this one is still very predictable even with the "Raimi-factor". Everything leading up to the ending was very predictable & unoriginal. Everything had been done in one way or another. Overall it was both good & bad. If your looking for a movie with good acting but very minimal scares, or just something to put on for a group of 13 year old school girls to scare them, this is the film. For an adult male, more of a time killer than anything. Oh you also have to look at Kyra Sedgewick's terrible face..... Yuck.

Budget: $14,000,000

Box Office: $70,234,892

Profit: $56,234,892

Rotten Tomatoes: 38%

Flixster: 52%

53%

Lead Acting: 12/15

Supporting Cast: 7/15

Plot: 3/10

Compared To The Genre: 3/10

Cinematography: 11/20

Intrigue: 9/20

Extra: 8/10