SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, THE POSSESSION is the terrifying story 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. 


REVIEW: Producer Sam Raimi (Spiderman – Tobey Maguire) is at it again, collaborating with the husband-and-wife screen writing team Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, on this blood curdling scream-fest called The Possession. Apparently, this story is based on a Los Angeles Times 2004 article with the headline "A Jinx in a Box?" that caught the attention of Raimi who then called upon Snowden and Stiles to work with the idea and come up with a script. The original real-life story revolved around a strange box possessing a Jewish spirit called a dybbuk that seemingly had a horrific affect on the owner of the box, before it was sold. However, that is pretty much the extent of the similarities between the true story and the actually film. For me, the idea that the film proclaims that it is based on a true story was a little misleading because the movie seems quite different from the actual article in the LA Times.

Unfortunately, movies about exorcisms are nothing new and viewers will see the typical scenes of bodies being thrown around and hitting the ceiling, and they will hear funny, hoarse voices calling out the victims' names and scenes of young females seemingly floating vertically, with long black hair draped over their eyes for added dramatic affect. This, to me, was where the writers could have introduced a little different type of scare, rather than the typical exorcism play-by-play. I was quite disappointed in the lack of creativity on the party of Raimi, where every scene became more and more predictable as we neared the exorcism on the spirit.

Nevertheless, the Judaic version of a possessing spirit seems to be nice variation from the typical Catholic supernatural force that we have come to expect in most similar exorcism horror flicks, hence, representing a sort of equal opportunity religious variation on an all-too-familiar theme. Needless to say, the movie explains enough about a Jewish exorcism that, if nothing else, it should shed light on the ancient mystical practice of the culture. 

I feel that most of the scary scenes were done in good taste and should have their intended affect on audiences. Overall, I would give the movie three out of five stars for overall entertainment value.

Review By Movie-Man Stan 

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