The Possession

The Possession: As far as demon possession movies go, I’d have to count this as one of the better offerings in recent years. That still doesn’t make it all that good. Based on a “true story”—bullshit!—it stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a basketball coach who moves his two daughters into a new house. They go to a yard sale, where the youngest daughter (an impressive Natasha Calis) grabs a mysterious box that has dead moths and spooky stuff in it. She winds up getting possessed by a demon, requiring the help of a Hasidic Jew instead of Roman Catholic priests for a change. And, of course, that Hasidic Jew is none other than Matisyahu. Director Ole Bornedal provides some genuinely creepy moments—I especially liked the very spooky CAT scan—but he also provides a little too much bad melodrama that drags the film down. Still, Morgan and Calis are good here, and the possession portions of the movie do have a decent freak-out factor. (Love those hands coming out of mouths!) A hearty “Screw you!” to the dumbass who decided to make this a PG-13 affair. This one should’ve shot for an R.