The Possession

I should have realized immediately that Sam Raimi participated in this movie in some way. In some scenes, it was pretty obvious. Well and I have to admit that it works quite OK as a horror movie. I mean I wasn’t really scared and the plot is a pretty decent rehash of the Exorcist… this time Jewish instead of catholic. Still, it had a pretty good atmosphere as a horror movie. And it was the atmosphere that helped secure an average three-star rating for this crazy flick. (21.02.2014)

Not great. As I've said before, when a film is introduced right at the beginning with the title "based on a true story", I'm extremely cautious. Most of the time it translates from filmmaker-speak to human-speak as "We made up a bunch of silly things that will seem unrealistic to you, but they really happened!" This case was similar. Moths fly out of the throats of living people, possessed people fly around the room from wall to wall, the face of the demon inside the body can be seen on the MRI... I have nothing against it, but no one in all seriousness can tell me that "this happened to one family in 30 days". Possession? Please. A Dybbuk locked in a cupboard? Sure, why not, I have no problem with that. But the added Hollywood phantasmagoria (five writers!) didn't do me any good. And that's a shame, because it's decently filmed and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and the two girls are great. (04.09.2013)

Average exorcism movie. Technically speaking, it’s very good, the actors are decent, but the all-too-seen story doesn’t bring in anything extra, and the Jewish exorcist was borderline parody at some points. The climax is weak and the film doesn’t even have the “evil” atmosphere of the trailer. This wouldn’t be a problem with a no-name director, but Bornedal can do better. (29.12.2012)

An utterly routine ghost horror film, of which there have been many, and much better. There is one cliché after another from the get go, starting with the opening "based on real events" and ending with the exorcism climax, the dark atmosphere from the trailer works only in places and I didn't get a single chill. The actors give decent performances, but some of the potential of their characters is drowned by the poor script and the predictability of the plot. Fine for an evening group screening, but not even close to the best genre titles. 50% (13.04.2013)