The Alternative Press

Reel Reviews
By Jennifer Fratangelo
September 11, 2012
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

With October creeping around the corner, the next several weeks, and then well within to the haunting month, movie-going audiences will be inundated with horror movie choices at the cinema.

Currently number one in America is one of the scary movies that has helped kickoff the season, "The Possession".

The story follows recently divorced couple Clyde and Stephanie ("Watchmen’s" Jeffrey Dean Morgan and "The Closer’s" Kyra Sedgwick) and their two young daughters Em and Hannah ("The Firm’s" Natasha Calis and "Shameless’" Madison Davenport), and how they are all dealing with the disruption of their family and adapting to the changes that it presents. T

he daughters spend the majority of time living with Stephanie and her new boyfriend in the home they have grown up in, regulating their time with Clyde primarily to weekends. Deciding that their father needs some essentials for his new home, the daughters convince him to stop at a garage sale. While there Em discovers an antique wooden box that Clyde purchases for her.

Upon closer inspection back at the new house the box has no seams, although there are clearly things inside of it rattling around. Ever persistent, Em discovers a hidden latch allowing her to open the box and find the laundry list of odd and unnerving things it holds.

From there on out. life starts getting creepy and dangerous for the family. After an incident at school, Clyde takes the box away from Em, who has become seemingly dependent on it, as punishment and eventually throws it away; this proves to be a terrible idea.

Tired of watching his daughter turn into someone he does not recognize, Clyde starts investigating the box and its origins, getting a crash course in Hebrew while he is at it, revealing that the box holds an ancient, evil spirit that will stop at nothing to be alive thus destroying Em in the process. Now in a race against time, Clyde must convince Stephanie and Hannah to help him exorcize the demon in order to save Em.

Movies dealing with exorcisms are tricky to enjoy as an audience member, as everyone knows what the climax of the film will be. Overall though, "The Possession" was enjoyable. Credit goes to the fantastic cast led by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Natasha Calis, who play the special bond between father and daughter impeccably and believably. Morgan’s absolute desperation to save his daughter is touching and gut-wrenching and Calis’s struggles to maintain who she is paired with slowly being possessed are interesting to watch (she plays “possessed little girl” great and creepy for someone who is not named Linda Blair). The pace of the film moves quickly, and the music fits the mood without going overboard. You do get to see what the demon looks like towards the end, but you will not be spoiled here!

 Will "The Possession" give you nightmares? No. Will it make you feel a little unnerved? Yes. Will you take a closer look at antique wooden boxes you stumble across? Absolutely.       

"The Possession" is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving violence and disturbing sequences, and runs 92 minutes. It is in theatres now.