Some bigger names came together to make The Possession, when it comes to horror, name does not guarantee a quality final product. That’s why it’s a great field for indie filmmakers.

Summary

After a recent divorce Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a.k.a. John Winchester!) buys his daughter Em (Natasha Calis) a creepy old box at a garage sale. The box contains a demon that possesses her, but Em’s mom Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) thinks Em is just depressed from the divorce and eventually, that Clyde is abusing Em. Clyde must call in a rabbi’s son to perform an exorcism (Matisyahu).

Where It Went Wrong

Here’s the deal: I liked the use of a Jewish demon and the conversation about how divorce affects kids, but ultimately the movie was typical. And while this is probably a small detail, Stephanie divorces Clyde because he’s too busy as a basketball coach, but now that they’re divorced he spends quite a bit of time with the girls and seems like an amazing dad. It didn’t add up. The girls weren’t resentful toward him, and there were only one or two scenes of him coaching what looked like a small private college basketball team. Horror hinges on caring about the characters, so when the set-up is suspect, it pulls me out of the story. All I wanted was for everyone to start treating John Winchester with the respect he deserves!

What to Watch Instead

• The Exorcism
• Supernatural
• Evil Dead
• The Awakening
• Let the Right One In
• The Ring
• The Conjuring
• 6 Souls
• The Insidious franchise

Verdict: DON’T WATCH