The Possession (2012)

Do you like scary movies? It maybe isn't ground breaking but its a good, solid, scary, supernatural thriller. Does what is says on the tin!

The Possession—not to be confused with Possession (1981), Amityville II: The Possession (1982), The Possessed (2017), The Possession of Michael King (2014), or countless other films based around demonic possession and exorcism—is about as inspired as its title.The story is cookie-cutter stuff, The Exorcist given a Jewish spin, and sees a young girl, Em (Natasha Calis), buying a box from a yard sale unaware that it contains an evil spirit called a Dybbuk. On opening the box, Em becomes possessed by the Dybbuk, much to the horror of her recently divorced parents (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick), who call in a Jewish priest (Matisyahu) to cast the spirit out.Director Ole Bornedal rattles off all the expected genre clichés and numerous less-than-effective jump scares whilst simultaneously leaving several plot threads dangling (where did Brett drive off to after his teeth fell out? What was the significance of the moths? Why did the Dybbuk stop some people using supernatural force but allow others to seek help? Why does the spirit leave Em and enter Clyde at the end?). The result is a mediocre movie at best.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

I'm surfing TV channels. Get to MUCH TV and a movie starts right away. Had it not been for the announcement "THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY", I'd have never wasted my time watching this crap. But I am glad I did! It was quite a revelation to witness a sign of the times. The movie is made, and passed off as a true story, for no other purpose than to further strengthen religion, i.e., superstition, by the dent of Hollywood across the world, in general, and in an already religious-ridden country, that is, the USA, in particular. It is made by the same hands that, for example, for the eight years during the rein of George W. Bush, the American Dark Ages, put a ban on stem cell research, the future hope of medical science and therefore humanity,(an executive order Obama had to cancel within ours of coming into the White House)just to gain the votes of the religious right; the same hands that are bringing religion back in a myriad of ways and putting it smack in the middle of our educational, scientific, judicial, etc., institutions; by the same hands that are passing "freedom of religion" ("freedom", as true as this story,indeed!)bills in state after state; by the same hands that are robbing us of our secular system of government, i.e., the separation of church and state; by the same hands that, in nut shell, are bent on, and, unfortunately, succeeding in, dragging the world to the brink of barbarism and eventual destruction. With globalization no more classical world-wars are possible. But religion, hand in glove with barbarism throughout history,is even a more efficacious weapon to do just that. Within the said context, "THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY", indeed!

Now THIS was a decent horror movie. "The Possession" (2012) was a well-directed and capably written yarn about a demon afflicting a divorced family via a cursed box. It had great acting all around, most notably by the possessed innocent (Natasha Calis) and especially her well meaning father (the talented and likable Jeffrey Dean Morgan). I'd give it an 8 out of 10.My quibbles were minor. This is essentially a Jewish retread of "The Exorcist" (1973), with the Catholic clergyman and demon swapped out for a rabbi and a "dybbuk" (sp?). If you've seen "The Exorcist," you've basically seen this. There is some CGI-rendered body horror that seemed gimmicky and unneeded. And I hate movies where divorced families are magically reunited after facing a challenge together. (Does this ever happen in real life?)Still, this was a scary flick and a fun watch. I'd recommend it.https://ericrobertnolan.wordpress.com/