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"Possessed" is a rather entertaining, if clichéd version of this genre.
**SPOILERS**
After surviving World War II, Father William Bowden, (Timothy Dalton) spends his time either teaching missionary school or getting into fights with the police. A local young boy, Robbie Mannheim, (Jonathan Malen) soon gets his attention after a series of events that no one can explain. His parents, Phyllis, (Shannon Lawson) and Karl, (Michael Rhoades) desperate to get him fixed, offer to have him come over to the house to see what is wrong. At first thinking it is nothing more than a joke, he soon becomes convinced that the kid may indeed by possessed by the Devil. After several unsuccessful attempts to exorcise him, they try one last time to get rid of the demon inside.
The Good News: When this one tried to, it had some really great parts. One thing it gets right is that it starts off with the possession early on. Around twenty minutes in, the strange events that signal the possession start off. This starts off with the usual acts that indicate this, and from there it gets better. The confrontation ins the priest's house that signals the start of something weird happening, is the film's best scene, and is right in the middle of the freaky occurrences. Starting off with the sight of objects moving about by themselves and progressing to include more extreme actions, this is a fantastic sequence that is a pure joy to watch. Even the little things thrown in, including the incredibly brutal arm-slicing with the corkscrew or the playful gag at the end, don't derail this. That it also gets quite creepy at times with the camera flashing on and off during the struggle and the wind blowing, even though it's all indoors, really makes it all the better. As expected, the exorcism scenes are all great fun, and that there's several of them appearing in the film is a pleasant surprise. The final battle is the best one, which is great fun and really intense. It really does end the film with a really good scene that incorporates some spectacle and a touch of realism. These here are the film's good parts.
The Bad News: This here didn't have a whole lot wrong with it, but they were pretty major reasons. The biggest problem with it is that it never once does anything new or original with the possession angle. This feels just like every other film in this style. There's a ton of these filling up every part of the film. From the excessive cursing and religious searing to the demonic over-lapping voices to puking and overt sexual references and so much more clichés from this genre that it's simply too much at times. This is so filled with clichés from the past types that there's hardly any sense of originality in the film. That can be a really bad sign, since this is such a touchy genre to begin with. It can be really hard to find originality in this style without retreading on the past, which this one does quite efficiently. There's a couple of other flaws with this one, while the main one here is just the extreme repetition.
The Final Verdict: While not the best example of this genre, this does have enough to make it watchable even though it doesn't do anything new. This is simple, as fans of this would be entertained with it, while those who don't really enjoy possession films should steer clear of this one.
Rated R: Extreme Graphic Language, Violence and intense religious issues
score 6/10
slayrrr666 5 October 2007
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1742939/ |
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15-3-2021 12:05:07