It's true. Every kid has that special toy that they just can't seem to do without. I had my Star Wars toys...my Batman toys and my cap guns. You had your faves and Emma has her box. Of course, Emma's affection for her toy prompts her to stab ole Dad with a fork...sees fingers coming out of her throat and moths emerge from her mouth. Yeah...pretty standard stuff for kids everywhere when it comes to their playthings, right?
Meet Clyde and Stephanie (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick). They are your typical family. The couple is recently divorced with two daughters. Hannah (Madison Davenport) is your normal teenage girl...yeah, you guessed it, pretty bitchy; and, the other (Em/Natasha Calis) is a sweetheart of a fourth grader. On a weekend visit with Dad, Hannah spots a yard sale and reminds ole Pop that he needs dishes. Yeah, that's right...bitchy does not equate with bright! Who would buy their dishes at a yard sale, right? At any rate, Em spots a box that intrigues her. Of course, Clyde, being the guilt-ridden divorced father tries to compensate for family failures with cash and off Em goes with her hand-me-down box. What she doesn't know is that her box has been around. So much so, that it's inhabited with a demonic spirit. This particular spirit, as is the norm in these stories is looking for a body. Hello Em!!! Yadayadayada...Emma becomes possessed as ma and pa try to figure out what's wrong with this sweetie turned satanic chickie.
Eh...it's okay. I'll go with 3.0 Stars. The story is too familiar to be truly scary and the attempts at shock value are to 'in-your'face' to be truly shocking. I've longed for a good thinking man's scary movie since Silence of the Lambs or Sixth Sense. This one doesn't really fit the bill. It's not bad. It's a decent story that comes together fairly well. The twists offer no surprises really--either that or I should be a horror flick writer as I called about everything in play-by-play mode. It's your tried-and-true possession story...not a classic by any stretch, but not bad.
It's shot to seemingly appear like a 70's horror flick, which isn't a bad element in terms of production value considering the genre. It's the look of The Birds meets Insidious with a splash of Amityville Horror. I'm talking production look, here, not fear factor; because The Possession doesn't really live up to any of those (not even Insidious) in that category.
The acting has its moments, but all-in-all is just a notch above average. Natasha Calis is your highlight among the cast, in what was undoubtedly a challenging role for a little kid. Did she scare me? Well, no, but she gave a pretty good performance of a demon-possessed squirt.
I guess the whole demon thing is just a storyline that has never really scared me. I've just tallied up the demon-possessed among the ranks of the mentally ill and left it there. I need a story that is real--with characters that, as humans, truly become something to fear. That is the story that is going to freak my freak and until I find it...well, I'll just settle on flicks like this to get my freak on!
No need to go big on this one...check it out on BluRay when you need a little late night jumpstart.
True...OUT!
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