The Possession review

Here's my review of the new horror film The Possession. Here we go.

The Possession:

The story follows a separated family. Every weekend the dad takes his two daughters to his house. They come across a yard sale, and the youngest daughter, Emily (or "Em") insists on picking up an old wooden box full of trinkets. They purchase the box and strange, disturbing things happen: weird insects invade the house, Em becomes incredibly unstable and violent, and prevents anyone from touching her special box. The father discovers it is a haunted box, containing an ancient Jewish demon known as a Dibbuk. This particular Dibbuk is a child-stealer, whom can only be contained inside that one box. A race begins, either get the Dibbuk get inside the box, or let it consume Em's life and soul energy. This movie has some surprisingly good acting. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who played the unsympathetic Comedian in Watchmen) is believable as the concerned, loving father who wants nothing more than the safety of his family. He obviously still loves his wife, even if she dismisses him. Kyra Sedgwick (of The Closer) plays the mother, who is sort of bitchy, but she is still somewhat believable. Natasha Calis is very good as Em, the disturbed little girl. There are some over-the-top moments, but some moments are played very well. Madison Davenport plays Hannah, the bitchy, pre-teen older sister. She's concerned for her sister, but is still pretty annoying. Grant Show plays the mother's boyfriend, Brett. He's a good-enough guy, but he feels like an arrogant douche. Matisyahu plays Tzadok, the Jewish priest who helps the father get rid of the demon. He's pretty cool. Jay Brazeau plays the history professor, in an unintentionally funny sequence. Speaking of which, me and my friends were cackling in the movie theater while everyone else were pissing themselves. We just couldn't stop laughing. Also, it treads on the same ground as The Exorcist, even being based off the same real-life event. It has a similar poster, similar sequences, but never gets to the level of the original, because of it's PG13 rating, it can never go to the level of disturbing that film did. It's a semi-remake. The special effects are pretty cool, especially in the MRI sequence. Even after the funny moments and sometimes over-the-top scenes, The Possession delivers a fun, scary good time. 3/5 stars.
(Editorial note, April 14, 2013: After much consideration, and a reviewing, I've decided this film is a 2 star rating. Look at my mini-review of it in my TOP 10 WORST MOVIES list on mattcottermovies.blogspot.com)