The Possession

There is only one ultimate exorcism movie, and without a doubt, it´s William Friedkin´s The Excorsist. Even if the movie has aged, it´s one of those titles that most horror fans have to own on dvd, a timeless classic that many directors tried to recreate, but not even close as good as the original. When it comes to the subject exorcism, we have a lot of titles out there with exorcism included. One of the few titles i enjoyed lately is The Last Exorcism, not the typical genre movie, but a story about a broken family, facing a truth they can not deal with. Even if there is a second movie coming, i fear it can´t be as good as the first one, it´s hard to make a sequel of a good movie, unless you really know what you are doing. The Possession is a horror movie, where one of the producers Sam Raimi, is a cult figure in the horror world. Not only for his Evil Dead movies, but also for his comeback to the genre, Drag Me To Hell, proved out to be a very pleasent tribute to his old classics. Question is, will The Possession bring new life to the exorcism genre, or is this business as usual ?

Divorced father Clyde ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ) show his daughters Em ( Natasha Calis ) and Hannah ( Madison Davenport ), his new house. He is hoping to spend more time with his daughters, since he and his ex wife Stephanie Brenek ( Kyra Segdwick ), does not get along. At a backyard sale, near Clyde´s house, Em finds an old box for sale, with a very strange design. Em asks dad if she can have it, and he approves. As Em manage to open the strange box, she does not know that something else is inside, locked up not to be let out again. Now, Em is starting to change, into someone completely different. Clyde will do anything to have his daughter back to normal.

The Possession does not bring anything fresh, but this is still a well made piece of cinema work. With classic elements and a good cast, we get a treat for ourselves. One interesting detail is the jewish society scene, where we find out more about demons in the jewish world. Usually it´s exorcism in the Christian religion, but here we get a different approach. Director Ole Bornedal may not be seen in the media very often, but he is a very talented director. His danish debut movie Nightwatch from 1994, is a bit of a classic thriller from my neighbour country Denmark. There was a remake made, but i prefer the original movie. Let´s not forget his suspenseful thriller drama Deliver Us From Evil, with such great acting you barely get anymore. You can tell his cinema feeling is very detailed in The Possession. To pick up a simple story like this, and still make a good horror movie is not an easy job. If there is one problem, it would be that we would have liked some different turns along the way, something we did not expect. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one of the actors in The Possession who manage portraying a father, desperate and mentally broken, to find a way to heal his daughter. And Kyra Sedgwick ? She knows exactly what she is doing, as usual. If you love exorcism movies, i have a feeling you will enjoy this one also. One thing is for sure, i am not going to mess with religious items after watching this one.

Rating: DDD