Film: The Possession
Studio: Ghost House Pictures
Cast: Natasha Calis, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick,
Rating:PG-13
When I heard the commercial for The Possession make the claim that it was made by the same people who produced the 2009 film Drag Me To Hell, I was immediately intrigued, knowing that it was Sam Raimi, the same person for one of the best horror movies ever; 1981s The Evil Dead.
Although The Possession was not written nor directed by Raimi, rather it was directed by Danish film maker Ole Bornedal, it definitely comes from the Raimi horror film mold having a captivating plot, compelling characters, genuine thrills interspersed with subtle humor throughout.
As with any good horror the advertised plot (supposedly based on a true story) is simple and straight forward enough. A young girl gradually becomes possessed by an evil spirit she accidentally releases from an antique box.
What makes this story differ from most "possession" movies is the family drama that hinders attempts to diagnose and heal the girl.
Jeffery Dean Morgan (The Losers) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer ) play Clyde and Stephanie, a recently divorced couple who are attempting to amicably work through the complications of parenting their daughters, teenager, Hannah (Madison Davenport) and the younger Em (Natasha Calis).
It is on one of the girls' weekend visits with their father that Em discovers and becomes intrigued with an antique wooden box at a yard sale and persuades her father to buy it for her. In an example of a quality horror script, we the audience, gasp at the seemingly innocent purchase of a gift for a child as we recall the film's opening scene which demonstrated the actual malevolent violence the box is capable of unleashing upon its owner.
Immediately upon opening the box, Em begins to devolve into a literal demon child but her odd behavior is written off as a byproduct of the recent change in the family dynamic. Clyde begins to suspect a link between the box and Em's changes but finds himself being accused of poor parenting and even being abusive.
As I mentioned before the script is well written as all of the film characters, even the possessed Em, provide opportunity for Clyde, the real hero of the movie, to progress the plot. Jeffery Dean Morgan is a charismatic actor and convincingly plays the concerned and frustrated father who you root for as he finds himself at odds with almost every other character at some point in the movie as he desperately tries to save his daughter.
In an era where so many horror films rely on gore and blood to make the audience wince and manufacture cheap thrills and chills from loud unexpected noises, The Possesion calls back to good old fashioned "ghost story" telling like the ones told around the campfire or at kids sleepovers. Of course the best of those often started with the phrase "This really happened."
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