Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Davenport, Natasha Calis
***
Wisely avoiding the "found footage" phenomenon so prevalent in modern horror, the Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal (of Nightwatch fame) opts instead for classic motifs and set pieces in this superior frightfest produced by Sam Raimi (of the Spider-Man and Evil Dead films).
While clearly owing debts of gratitude to horror staples The Exorcist, The Unborn and Poltergeist, among others, Bornedal's film riffs off an impressively haunting sound design to help shape its scares. That it's apparently based on a real-life family staving off evil spirits doesn't hurt its chances of ratcheting up dramatic tension, either. The creepy tale focuses on a recently divorced couple who are trying to remain civil for the sake of their two young daughters. Clyde (Morgan) is a basketball coach by day, an absent-minded father by night, with his suitably brittle ex-wife Stephanie (Sedgwick) looking on unimpressed. As it's his turn to look after the kids, he takes them to his new house, stopping off at an antique garage sale nearby.
His youngest, Em (Calis), takes a shine to an old box she finds among the bric-a-brac: the very same one that caused the elderly owner's misfortune at the film's opening. A malevolent spirit resides inside said box, which is inscribed with Hebrew. When Em finally prises it open, she begins to act in an increasingly demonic way. For good measure, moths, a gold ring, a mysterious voice and an even more mysterious hand are all claiming ownership of the youngster.
In lesser hands, The Possession would simply feel like a blatant rip-off from horror days of yore. Certainly, there's nothing terribly original about the premise, or what unfolds once the spirit is unleashed. What's most surprising, in fact, is the sight of the reggae-rapper Matisyahu, who helps the increasingly desperate parents exorcise the demon (or dybbuk, to give its rightful term). While all hell breaks loose around him, the padre remains the calmest of all. Yet even he fails to realise the full extent of what will come to pass.
Grounded by typically sturdy performances from Morgan and Sedgwick (both excellent, as the divided couple burdened with regret), and with a similarly impressive turn from Calis (as The Exorcist-like Em), Bornedal's feature proves far better than expected, in every sense. It's a well-crafted, at times genuinely scary experience, and one worth investigating.
