Where to start on this one? I'm always hoping for another great experience with a demonic possession film, kinda like the thrill THE EXORCIST, THE ENTITY, or to a lesser degree, even THE LAST EXORCISM gave me...but here we have producer Sam Raimi and company trying to copy the classic Friedkin film with a PG-13 rating and zero talent behind it all. This one feels like they were almost making it up as they went along, perhaps with a copy of THE EXORCIST in a DVD player close by. Bored lead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who resembles a grown-up Greg Brady from THE BRADY BUNCH TV show, plays a sweaty ball chaser coach who is going through a divorce with his extra homely wife Kyra Sedgwick (who looks like she hits the plastic surgery and Botox clinics daily). On the weekends, Greg Brady watches his two daughters, and one of them, Em, is taking the divorce pretty hard. At a garage sale, daddy buys her this antique box, which Em becomes obsessed with. Turns out the antique is a "spirit box", which houses an evil lady inside and once opened, said entity slowly possesses the individual that opened it. So "Em" begins to change...bringing swarms of moths into the house...seeing fingers coming up out of her throat in the mirror...stabbing dad with a fork to the hand while eating pizza...growling at her mom's boyfriend (causing this dentist character's teeth to fall out when he tries to meddle)...and eventually getting strange telekinetic powers that include an unearthly wind along with a taste for raw meat. Greg Brady does some research, figures out the box is some kind of vessel that Jewish priests lock evil spirits in, and goes to the local Jewish religious community for help. A rabbi with a dreadlocked beard like Rob Zombie agrees to help "exorcise" Em while she's in the hospital, and what follows is one of the most ridiculous "rid the demon out of a little girl" exorcism scenes that I've ever witnessed. It was so lame and uninvolving that I nearly dozed off during the proceedings. Honestly, I would have gotten more excitement out of re-watching THE EXORCIST for the 155th time, at least that timeless classic still has the power to shock and awe! Silliest scene in THE POSSESSION has Em going through a full-body tunnel CAT scan (a'la Regan in THE EXORCIST) and X-rays reveal that there's a little "face" and "hands" inside her stomach! I totally did not understand this ridiculous twist/concept, like the spirit was becoming a Siamese twin with Em or something? Oh well, SPOILER HERE- Greg Brady saves the day by letting the spirit come into him (er, just like Father Karras in THE EXORCIST) and is able to overcome its evil. Lightweight, trite, cliché, routine, boring, uninspired, and just plain insulting to the viewer, Sam Raimi should be ashamed. If you're in the mood for a good demonic possession flick, just re-watch the classic EXORCIST over this steaming pile of green goo.
Where to start on this one? I'm always hoping for another great experience with a demonic possession film, kinda like the thrill THE EXORCIST, THE ENTITY, or to a lesser degree, even THE LAST EXORCISM gave me...but here we have producer Sam Raimi and company trying to copy the classic Friedkin film with a PG-13 rating and zero talent behind it all. This one feels like they were almost making it up as they went along, perhaps with a copy of THE EXORCIST in a DVD player close by. Bored lead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who resembles a grown-up Greg Brady from THE BRADY BUNCH TV show, plays a sweaty ball chaser coach who is going through a divorce with his extra homely wife Kyra Sedgwick (who looks like she hits the plastic surgery and Botox clinics daily). On the weekends, Greg Brady watches his two daughters, and one of them, Em, is taking the divorce pretty hard. At a garage sale, daddy buys her this antique box, which Em becomes obsessed with. Turns out the antique is a "spirit box", which houses an evil lady inside and once opened, said entity slowly possesses the individual that opened it. So "Em" begins to change...bringing swarms of moths into the house...seeing fingers coming up out of her throat in the mirror...stabbing dad with a fork to the hand while eating pizza...growling at her mom's boyfriend (causing this dentist character's teeth to fall out when he tries to meddle)...and eventually getting strange telekinetic powers that include an unearthly wind along with a taste for raw meat. Greg Brady does some research, figures out the box is some kind of vessel that Jewish priests lock evil spirits in, and goes to the local Jewish religious community for help. A rabbi with a dreadlocked beard like Rob Zombie agrees to help "exorcise" Em while she's in the hospital, and what follows is one of the most ridiculous "rid the demon out of a little girl" exorcism scenes that I've ever witnessed. It was so lame and uninvolving that I nearly dozed off during the proceedings. Honestly, I would have gotten more excitement out of re-watching THE EXORCIST for the 155th time, at least that timeless classic still has the power to shock and awe! Silliest scene in THE POSSESSION has Em going through a full-body tunnel CAT scan (a'la Regan in THE EXORCIST) and X-rays reveal that there's a little "face" and "hands" inside her stomach! I totally did not understand this ridiculous twist/concept, like the spirit was becoming a Siamese twin with Em or something? Oh well, SPOILER HERE- Greg Brady saves the day by letting the spirit come into him (er, just like Father Karras in THE EXORCIST) and is able to overcome its evil. Lightweight, trite, cliché, routine, boring, uninspired, and just plain insulting to the viewer, Sam Raimi should be ashamed. If you're in the mood for a good demonic possession flick, just re-watch the classic EXORCIST over this steaming pile of green goo.
