Possession is a popular subject when it comes to horror movies, but of all the ones that have been made The Exorcist still remains the most well known and highest rated. The movie by the name The Possession that opens this weekend is the latest to be added to the long line of films about the subject, and like many that have come before it, it too is supposedly based on a true story. The biggest question surrounding it is does it have the legs to stand on its own, or will it disappear like so many others have.
Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie (Kyra Sedgewick) are divorced and split custody of their two children. Every other weekend the children stay with their father, and during one such weekend the youngest daughter Em (Natasha Calis) convinces her father to buy her an antique box at a yard sale. The box turns out to be a Dybbuk box, which in Jewish folklore is a sealed box used to contain a kind of spirit. After Em opens the box the spirit possesses her, and it’s up to her family to find a way to force the spirit to leave and save her life.
The Possession is based on an article written by Leslie Gornstein called a jinx in a box. This 2004 article talks about a so-called Dybbuk box that was for sale on E-Bay at the time, and how the owner just wanted to be rid of it due to all the bad luck he’d received since obtaining it. The box is the only connection this movie has to any sort of real life event. As a horror movie The Possession has its scary moments, but it really offers nothing new. Once again it falls into the trap many horror movies these days have, and that is that it shows more than it needs to. The soundtrack for this movie is terrible, and does nothing to set the tone. In fact if anything it almost turns the movie into a bit of a joke at times. What makes this movie work and be watchable is the acting of Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Natasha Calis. Morgan really is underrated as an actor, and seeing him in the lead role was a pleasure. Calis on the other hand was downright creepy at times, and she seemed to be channeling Linda Blair’s performance in The Exorcist. Unfortunately some of the other performances in this movie were too over the top to add to their good work.
The Possession is one of those movies that can you can or leave. If you want to see a somewhat scary movie then by all means check it out, but it’s not one you’ll be talking about a week from now.
Tags: a jinx in a box, dybbuk box, is the possession based on a true story, is the possession scary, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, leslie gornstein, movie review, movies review, natasha calis, the possession movie review, what is the possession based on
I found this review while researching the soundtrack and I only read your sentence on the music doing nothing for the movie, and I couldn’t disagree more, I found the music really dark, unsettling and tense, especially when in the scene that builds up to the possession, that deep bass sent shivers down my spine.
It’s funny how a review contributes absolutely nothing to others experience of the same thing.