Review

Recently divorced Clyde is trying to juggle time with his two daughters, his estranged wife moving on with her life, a new house, and continuing coaching a winning College basketball team. A full plate in anyone's language, but teenage daughter Hannah helpfully points out he has no plates and a yard sale they are passing might have just the answer. While Clyde and Hannah load up on second hand plates and utensils younger daughter Em pokes around the rest of the sale and sets her sights on an old wooden box of indeterminate use. Clyde is happy to buy her what she wants and the whole lot sets him back under $50.

However Clyde has unwittingly allowed a demon, who is trapped in the box, access to his younger daughter. All she needs to do is learn how to open the box to unleash a demonic moth horde and a "Dibbuk". When Em's personality starts to change and a few spooky things go down Clyde contacts a colleague at the College who determines the box is a "dibbuk trap". The Catholics will be no use in this situation, time to call in the Orthodox Jews and hip to the groove Tzadok who can tell Clyde they need to return the Dibbuk to the box. Easier said than down, an exorcism movie when a different flavour ensues, let's get our yamaka on and see how the People of God exorcise demonic threats.

I guess a lot of people are going to excitedly point out this is the first Jewish influenced exorcism movie, and they would be right if we didn't all remember 2009's The Unborn, a Jewish horror movie featuring possession that was largely marketed via Odette Annable's admittedly shapely arse. In terms of originality of concept at least it's the only Jewish influenced exorcism movie featuring John Winchester himself, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And that's about it for originality, unfortunately you have seen the inside of this movie's lingerie draw before and if after new visual pleasures than you are in the wrong place. But on the bright side the movie doesn't bother rambling down metaphysical paths, unfortunately the Writers simply aren't good enough to layer on anything philosophical or remotely out of the scope of what a 1,001 movies have covered previously.

Originally Ole Bornedal shoot the movie back in 2009 as the R rated The Dybbuk Box, a much more interesting title than the bland The Possession, which has been used in various forms in 50 odd other movie titles. In the three years between shooting and release Ghost House Pictures took Bornedal's original version and tamed it down to the more cinema acceptable PG13th cookie cutter we ended up viewing. Actually that kind of explains why some scenes make no apparent sense and why there's a feeling that certain ideas are rushed rather than being developed in any sort of natural progression. I would just like to point out for the record that Sam Raimi strikes again, the fanbois might love the guy but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of his "cream puff girl" approach to the dark genre. Seems the Big Bad Sam of the original Evil Dead days has given way to some whiney Mummy's boy in the modern area. Grow some balls Sam and do a decent horror flick already, one that doesn't include talking fracking goats!

Generic doesn't even begin to describe this excursion into the blandness of the modern teen horror flick

The movie kicks off the right way with an older lady getting her paranormal activity on with an unseen assailant that is apparently linked to an old box on the mantelpiece. Bornedal uses the scene to get his supernatural pieces onto the board then dials it back somewhat as he introduces the victims for the evening. Clyde gets his two daughters on the weekend with both Stephanie and Em still coming to terms with their parents divorce. After Em scores the box, we already know that's not the best thing for a young girl to have, her personality begins to change as the demon contained within the box is released via apparently supernatural moths. Yes the box contains supernatural moths that are apparently the demon in corporal form, hello stupid idea number one. Naturally things build to a rousing climax and the expected sudden last scare.

Interesting The Possession is another movie in the recent spate of "based on a true story" flicks that have infected cinema and made the gullible believers. Unfortunately the actual true story is a lot more interesting than what we see on our screens, which pars things back to such a degree that the story loses pretty much any Jewish mythology it once, uhmm, possessed to deliver just another generic exorcism movie. Yes there was a box that apparently brought bad luck with it, but the history of the box makes for compelling reading. For those interested check out this article from the LA Times which besides giving the good oil also alludes to the power of the modern myth creation device known as the Internet. People apparently don't want so much to believe as to accept any old tale being spun as gospel truth.

You may think this review is trying it's very best to get side tracked from talking about the actual movie, and you'd be right, there's only so much you can say about just another generic horror movie that doesn't even have the dubious advantages of Odette Annable's butt. Sorry to be sexist here, but hell that advertising campaign couldn't leave that seat alone for a minute.

While I've no doubt manage to offend feminists, hey tell me the advertising campaign for The Unborn shouldn't be highlighted for exactly what it was, and Jewish lobbyists, sorry I'm not the person raping your heritage here, my defence is I'm covering a bland movie that Ghost House pictures have managed to prune Ole Bornedal's vision down to. There's a couple of jump scenes to be had, but not enough to enliven the interest of the veteran horror fan who has had to sit through the grindingly dull first block of the movie. In the wash-up The Possession disappears up its own bland orifice, another in the seemingly endless sea of tripe Hollywood is pumping out to a saturated and shallow horror market. No recommendation, there may have once been a decent horror flick to be had with The Possession but Sam Raimi's company have ensured we'll never get to see that movie.