"The Possession" Review: A Movie Like All the Others?

You can expect at least two movies a year on the topic of demon possession. Doesn’t it seem like the possessed have been shouting with distorted voices and in ancient languages on the silver screen forever now? Usually under the banner of “based on a true story” and always in the shadow of the masterpiece known as “The Exorcist”    

It’s a tired storyline laden with clichés. You have to be pretty creative to inject freshness into the subgenre and in this regard, “The Possession” hits its mark near 40% of the time. The twist in this tale is the use of a haunted item known as a “Dybbuk box” found at a garage sale by unsuspecting young Em played by Natasha Calis. Her somber father, Clyde, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Denny Duquette off Grey’s), struggles with trying to figure out what’s happening to his daughter, what’s with the box, and where did all the moths come from (like those seen in the poster… coming out of Em’s mouth). “Maybe it’s the divorce?” he thinks. If you’ve watched more than three of this kind of movie, you’ve probably seen it all before. Where this shines though is that it takes its time and underscores creepy with one note piano key strikes and abrupt edits – Its moody and awesome in that way – except for the inevitable exorcism at the end, in which the pace picks up and the decently packed package comes apart at the seems.

What’s good about this movie are the bits in the middle. It’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s convincing “alarmed and desperate father”, Em’s face in the mirror of the Dybbuk box, and the atmosphere. But it’s mired in familiarity and has a predictable ending to boot. It’s enjoyable at 7.3/10 on scale. But it’s unlikely you’ll be scared and if that isn’t the case, it’s not an uneasiness that will linger.

- Josh