By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I had avoided this film for quite some time. I saw the preview for it and thought it looked quite absurd. The trailer showed the young child who was possessed open her mouth to reveal two fingers in the back of her throat. I remember seeing that and saying, “yeah…I’ll pass.” Nonetheless, after several failed attempts at watching some horrible movies, Geno, Steve and I decided to give this a chance.
To my delight, I was extremely surprised. THE POSSESSION had atmosphere, tone and a few absolutely terrifying scenes.
The movie begins when an older woman is nearly killed by her possessed small wooden box. She is thrown around like a rag doll and is near death when her son finds her.
It is directly after that we meet our main characters. Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) buys his own house as he is separating from his wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick). Clyde shows his two young daughters Em (Natasha Calis)and Hannah (Madison Davenport) his new place and then takes them to a tag sale.
The tag sale is at the house of the old woman who is now wrapped up like a mummy and watches from the window screaming “no” as she sees Em buying the wooden box.
Soon of course the demon or spirit within the box takes over her. Clyde is the first to notice the changes as Stephanie believes it is the pending divorce which is bothering her.
The possession gets worse and soon Stephanie thinks there may be something medically wrong with her. She brings Em to the hospital where an MRI shows the demon that is residing inside.
Meanwhile, Clyde enlists the help of a Rabbi who reluctantly agrees to attempt an exorcism.
I honestly believed this would be a ripoff of THE EXORCIST. I didn’t think it could offer anything. I was extremely wrong. There were genuinely terrifying moments. In one scene Em is standing in a dark room and only the light from Clyde’s cell phone brightens the room. She keeps repeating, “You scared me daddy” and then laughs in an evil tone. Over and over again she does this. It reminded me of the scene in THE EVIL DEAD when Linda laughs as Ash punches her. That scene still scares the hell out of me and this scene follows suit. Though the inspiration is clear, they still use the demonic laughter effectively.
Like many films this states that it is based on a true story. I did some research and found that the original box was one sold on Ebay. The seller claimed it was causing all sorts of paranormal activity. Odder still is that strange occurrences that were similar to those stated by the seller are said to have happened on the set of the film. Light bulbs breaking and equipment catching fire are just two of the similarities that were mentioned.
Whether those stories were true or just played up to sell the film they do add a certain level of mystery and fear in the viewer.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend the movie. It was great to see Grant Show in something new. I really haven’t seen any of his work since MELROSE PLACE. Twenty years later he still looks the same. All around the acting was fantastic. I absolutely love Sedgwick and have since the movie Singles. Morgan was perfect as the concerned and protective father. Even the young girls did a phenomenal job. Their acting ability at such a young age is impressive. Many times kid actors can have a tendency to over- do it and be very hammy in their delivery. That wasn’t the case here. I wasn’t annoyed by them but rather empathized with their situation.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8/10
