The Possession (2012) - Review

You have something on your face.

Possession movies are kind of done.  I mean, after The Exorcist... where can you possibly go?  I guess my question has already been answered: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Last Exorcism, Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, etc.  With a few exceptions (The Conjuring being a major one), most possession films feel very samey and played out.  Is The Possession (nice title, guys) one of those exceptions?

Not quite.  Almost.

Right away, the movie hits you hard with a cold open, and you can tell that it's something kind of different.  The spirit (dibbuk, in this film, from Jewish lore) is a tad more interesting than your traditional poltergeist-esque baddie.  The creature design (which they wisely saved until the end) is incredibly well-done and creepy; luckily the film saves all of its complete craziness for the very end, and the movie is all the better for it.

Creepy little girl?  Check check check.

The story is simple.  Single dad, creepy girl, cursed object, yadda yadda yadda.  You've heard it all a million times.  But the impressive aspect of this movie is its subtlety.  For the majority of the movie, everything is played with menace and suspense, but the film never quite blows up until the end.  This makes the end of the film a lot scarier because the film previously relied on tension rather than jump scare after jump scare after jump scare.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan -- John Winchester himself -- does a great job as the dad, and the kids are more than capable as well.  However, the film isn't scary per se, barring one unbelievably unnerving scene at the very end, but the film is well-made and fairly tense throughout the whole thing.  It's not the next The Exorcist, but you could do a lot worse in the genre, that's for sure.