The Possession

May people have been asking me if they should go see the exorcism film ‘The Possession’ this weekend. Even though, it is a PG-13 horror film, it is a serviceable film and much better than the desultory, aimless and unscary ‘The Apparition’. The Possession offers a better cast, a better story, a better production and most importantly, more frights for your bucks.

The plot goes like this: a young girl (Natasha Calis) buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl’s father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) teams with his ex-wife (Kyra Sedgwick) to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

I’m not a fan of PG-13 horror movies. The shocks are not harsh nor violent because they’re geared for someone between 13-18 years to see. I think they should not be allowed a release. They need to be rated R to really maximize their potentials. The Exorcist, with its ten Oscar nominations back in 1973, was rated R. Nevertheless, the reality is that we’re being given PG-13 fright flicks whether we like it or not, so why not sift through them and pick the ones that do the most modest job and The Possession isn’t embarrassing.

The film develops slowly, you have to have some patience for it. But the acting isn’t half bad. It’s my biggest pet peeve with these genre movies, they usually can’t seem to convince any quality actors to perform in them, but I had a good time with it, much like the audience in the theater. Women in particular were screaming and screeching. Of course there are silly moments where you say, “I cannot believe you are SO stupid”, but it is the nature of these films. From 1 to 5, 5 being a masterpiece, I give it a 3 as a modest and not terrible movie. However, Ethan Hawke is starring in Sinister, a rated R film that from the looks of the trailer, does promise a much more horrifying experience on October 5th.