Review of The Possession (2012) by Brianna J — 25 Jan 2013

I don't mind demon possession movies to be a little bit formulaic. I mean, how much variation can you expect? Youth shows she's a good kid, but flirts with a sprititually-taboo game or trinket. Youth starts feeling ill and acting rude. Youth turns ugly and her head spins around. Priest fights her in a battle of rote chants vs. blasphemous insults. Demon enters priest and he jumps out the window, or something of the sort.

But when some of my favorite elements -- like bodily contortions, superhuman strength, levitation, demonic voices, facial transformation, self harm -- are nowhere to be found, I expect something interesting to take its place. Instead, this movie tried so hard to avoid Exorcist cliches, yet still managed to feel overly familiar. The exorcism itself was most disappointing. Setting it in a well-lit workout room, by a not-creepy-at-all, young Rabbi didn't do the trick. I guess Hebrews are just not as scary as Catholics. (There I said it.).

Regardless, most of the movie was still quite entertaining, even if a bit too heavy on the drama. Most of the adrenalizing scares were cheap, loud noises, but one creepy scene with a bandaged old woman in a window physically gave me chills. Overall, a promising endeavor that deteriorated a bit by the end, and, unfortunately, left out all the really scary parts.