Possession, The (2012) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Thriller

Tagline: Pray for her

Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) 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.

Storyline: A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife and a sematic scholar or Rabbi to find a way to end the curse upon their child. Written by Anonymous

User Comment: *** This review may contain spoilers *** Bob_Jenkem from Canada, 1 September 2012 • "The Possession" (2012) (great, original title, by the way) is another film in a VERY long line of demonic possession movies/"Exorcist" ripoffs, and it has nothing special or noteworthy to distinguish it from any of the others. It is a generic, largely predictable, cliché-filled thriller with little to recommend it, and is not in any way scary. Nothing the possessed little girl does in the movie is scary in any way, nor is there any real indication (until the last 10 minutes) that she is possessed by anything; she just acts like a spoiled brat, looks pale, occasionally talks in a weird voice, and throws crockery on the floor. The only reason I saw it was because of the Raimi/Tapert involvement, which must have largely consisted of penning a few signatures and not much else.

To give the film credit, the first part of the movie is kind of creepy and spooky, before the possession. The scene where they look in the girl's room and see it filled with moths was very impressive. It also had good photography and music, and was atmospheric. The basic story is that this little girl finds a weird box at a yard sale, which is filled with bizarre trinkets. She mainly spends the first half acting weird and aloof. The film admittedly does start getting a little wonky during this part, when the father character (played by Javier Bardem's twin brother, apparently) retrieves the box from his daughter's classroom, in spite of the fact that (spoiler) her teacher was murdered there the day before and the place is a crime scene.

However, when the possession element finally kicks in halfway through, the film totally lost me and became increasingly painful by the minute. Once it is suggested that the box is a Jewish relic that might contain a demon, in the very next scene, the father character is trying to exorcise his daughter using the Torah, even though no indication has been given that he's Jewish or accepts any of this stuff as factual. The film then becomes increasingly silly as the girl eats raw meat out of the fridge, smashes glasses, and yells at mommy, then says cliché junk like "WHO AM I?" Terrifying.

There are a number of unresolved plot threads in the film; for instance, the box originally belongs to an old woman who gets beat up by the evil spirit, then is shown in bandages screaming "NO! NO!" at the little girl as she takes the box away. At no point do the characters ever try to contact this woman to see what the deal with the box is. There is also a thankless sister character who is part of a hip-hop dance troupe, never referenced again after the first act. If they're going to have those, why not have the dancers all become possessed as well, or have the possessed girl kill them during a dance competition or something? And what happens to the woman's boyfriend who loses his teeth? (Admittedly, the scene where his teeth dissolve was one of the few legitimately scary parts of the film, along with seeing the demon in the MRI). But then, do the doctors also see the demon in the MRI? And the girl's dead teacher is never referenced again. And there's also a scene where the kid stabs her dad with a fork, and he's just okay in the next scene. And what about the whole child-abuse subplot? The film is a series of missed opportunities.

Finally, in the last act, when the characters must exorcise the little girl, it goes off the cliff and becomes laughably bad. They bring the girl to a basement in a hospital filled with doctors and patients, then begin yelling and screaming while the place rocks around, thunder booms, and lights go off. Does anyone else in the hospital notice this? The scene with the Rabbi doing the exorcism ritual, rocking back and forth and screaming, was unbelievably silly-looking, even if it may be an accurate representation of a Jewish ritual. Then the possessed kid runs around like a character from "Silent Hill," the father becomes possessed, but the Rabbi manages to exorcise the demon, which looks like Gollum, and put it back in the box. As a reward for this, the father gives the rabbi his brand-new, $50000 BMW, since he "doesn't want to go anywhere" (how is he going to get food?), then (spoiler) there is a ridiculously cliché ending where the Rabbi gets creamed by a Mack Truck and the box flies out, waiting for somebody else to find it. Did you get all that? Also, this film is based on a true story. Isn't it obvious?

Summary: The Possession..of your hard-earned money.

[CSW] -2.4- It was a good idea for a possession movie (using a sematic scholar or Rabbi) but not really that good of a movie. The dybbuk box containing a child-stealing demon was a good gimmick too. But all total it doesn't rise about the level of TV melodrama. Every horrifying moment must punctuated by a pounding score and D-box movement so that we "know" we're supposed to be scared. All of the "possession" now seem to run together downhill toward mediocrity at best and downright bad at worst. This one is at best a TV melodrama so wait for it to come on TV.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 8.9/10.
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