The Possession
(2012)
92 min
Horror | Thriller
Rated: PG-13
Director: Ole Bornedal
Writers: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Leslie Gornstein
Stars: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick | See full cast and crew
Grade: C-
A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a Dybbuk, a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.
Based on a true story, The Possession is the terrifying account of how one family must unite in order to survive the wrath of an unspeakable evil. Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) see little cause for alarm when their youngest daughter Em becomes oddly obsessed with an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. But as Em's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, the couple fears the presence of a malevolent force in their midst, only to discover that the box was built to contain a dibbuk, a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host. -- (C) Lionsgate
Sam Raimi wants us to know for sure that The Possession is based on a true story. That makes for the best scary movie doesn't it? Well, having not investigated the 'true story' I can't say how true to the story it is. What I can say is that it is little different to offer than a hundred other possession B, C and D list horror movies. You've seen it all before, you know how it will end. About the only thing remotely original or different is the ethnic Hebraic element to the plot, that the evil possession comes in the from a Dybbuk and the exorcism requires an Hasidic Rabbi. 
The acting is unremarkable, Jeffrey Dean Morgan does an adequate job given what he has been handed by the writers. The film is relies heavily on all the stock horror cliches. There are plenty of my pet peeves too, stupidity...one example, mom is a vegetarian yet in a 'creepy' dark of night scene she finds Em raiding the refrigerator eating raw meat like an animal. 
You know there will be a time or two when the startling 'gotcha' type scary moments may make you jump a bit, but the film in the whole ends up fairly boring.
Spoiler Alert
The Plot
Complements from Wikipedia
The film opens with a woman trying to open a strange box, protecting herself with holy water and a hammer. She is thrown violently around the room by an unseen force. When her son enters, she is unconscious on the floor. Next the audience is introduced to couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) who are in the process of divorce. They have two children, Em (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport).
Clyde and his daughters shop at a yard sale, where Em becomes intrigued by an old box which has Hebrew inscriptions engraved on it. Clyde buys the box for her. They hear an animalistic noise in their kitchen one night, but when the intruder escapes through their dog flap, Clyde assumes it was a raccoon.
Em becomes solitary and spends her spare time staring at the box. Her behavior increasingly grows more sinister and the house is infested with moths. Em's behavior gradually grows more violent. When she strikes out at a schoolmate who was trying to steal the box, she is brought to the attention of the authorities, who recommend that she spend time away from the box. That night, her teacher dies when a malevolent force throws her out a window.
Em tells Clyde about a woman who lives in her box who says Em is "special." Her father is alarmed by her behavior. He attempts to dispose of the old box by throwing it in a garbage unit, but Em retrieves it. She seems to become totally possessed by the entity at this time. Clyde, immensely disturbed, takes the box to a professor at the university. The professor tells him it is a Dybbuk box and dates back to the 1920s; it was used to contain a broken spirit, an ancient Jewish evil or demon.
Clyde immediately travels to the local Hasidic community, and learns from a Jew named Tzadok (Matisyahu) that the possession has three main stages, with the third stage being the one where the Dybbuk latches onto the host, becoming one entity with it. The only way to defeat the Dybbuk is to lock it back into the box in a forced ritual.
At home, Em violently attacks her mother when Stephanie discovers her eating like an animal out of the refrigerator. Em is taken to the hospital for an MRI. Stephanie is horrified when she sees the Dybbuk's face in the images, next to her heart. Stephanie realizes Em is possessed. Clyde and Tzadok join the rest of the famly at the hospital. They attempt to conduct an exorcism but Em escapes. Clyde chases her and Em attacks him. He survives but now is possessed by the Dybbuk. Tzadok performs an exorcism which is successful: the Dybbuk crawls out of Clyde and back into the box.
Cast
Jeffrey Dean Morgan Kyra Sedgwick
Clyde Brenek Stephanie Brenek
Natasha Calis Madison Davenport
Em Hannah
Matisyahu
Tazadok
No comments:
Post a Comment