Possession (2008)

Review by Tim-O



Starring : Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace
Directed by Simon Sandquist, Joel Bergvall

Let me start by saying that this “review” is going to be short and more of a warning to horror fans than anything else. First off, if you love Sarah Gellar and thought her movie “The Return” was brilliant, you’ll probably love this so-called “supernatural thriller”. I, for one, am starting to see a pattern in Hollywood and Sarah is quickly becoming the poster child for it. It seems Hollywood is dusting off old rejected Lifetime Network scripts, adding useless music swelling “fake scare” scenes involving dreams, or misplaced props behind shower curtains, and then hiring some barely pretty waif of a TV star to “anchor” the movie and give it broad appeal…like Sarah. The real feather in the cap is the studio people hiring some incredible artist to come up with a great and creepy poster art concept (they really are great) to fool men into coming into theaters or renting the DVD’s, (Hey!?! What about Joel Robinson doing some of these posters, by the way? He has my vote and certainly deserves the work!)

“Possession” is about a married couple who is letting the husband’s brother live with them while he’s on parole or probation or something. The wife (Gellar) doesn’t like or trust the brother (Lee Pace). Gee, I wonder why? Then, in one of the most implausible scenes since the bus in “Speed” flew across the bridge that wasn’t there, the brothers crash into each other’s cars while driving across a huge and busy bridge. Both brothers end up in a coma. The brother wakes from the coma and insists that he’s actually the husband trapped the brother’s body. So, of course the brother starts to romancing Gellar never once seeming to consider it might freak her out or really giving a care about his supposed ”old body” still clinging to life in a coma. Figure it all out yet? Good. So did I WAY before it was over. I won’t spoil it for anyone but I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would bitch-slap anyone who can’t figure out what’s going on just from what I’ve written.

This movie sucks worse but was just as boring as Gellar’s last “lie” to the horror community, “The Return”. It was so bad that I’m angry at losing 90 minutes of my life to it. Folks, here’s my warning; THIS IS IN NO WAY A HORROR MOVIE!!!!! NOR IS IT IN ANY WAY A GOOD MOVIE!!!! “Possession” at best is a doomed romantic psychological DRAMA with unrelated and completely useless jump scares thrown in. The way the film has been packaged and advertised is a flat out lie. Did I mention it’s also really boring?

Screw you “Possession”, I’m going home! Next! 1/10