The Possession (2012) is a supernatural horror movie based on a true story about the Dybbuk Box, a "haunted Jewish wine cabinet box".
Synopsis: Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is divorced from Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick). He brings his two daughters, Hannah (Madison Davenport) and Emily (Natasha Calis) to his new house for the weekend. One day, Emily the younger daughter fancies an antique wooden box with Hebrew inscriptions at a yard sale and asks her father to buy the box, unaware that it harbors a malicious ancient spirit. When things start to get really bad, Clyde asks for help from Rabbi Tzadok (Matisyahu) to trace the origins of the malevolent force, and hopefully, save Emily before it's too late.
Remember 'The Exorcist' starring Linda Blair? To date, it was the most terrifying movie about exorcism with the presence of Catholic priests. In fact, most modern-day possession movies are influenced by 'The Exorcist'.
There are noticeable traces of 'The Exorcist' in 'The Possession'. Director Ole Bornedal cited 'The Exorcist' as an inspiration, praising their subtlety. The difference is, instead of the usual run-of-the-mill Christian/Catholic exorcism theme, 'The Possession' is related to Jewish traditions.
The best thing about this movie is Natasha Calis' performance as Emily. Calis is captivating as she carries Em from a sweet and charming kid who spouts quips about the benefits of vegetarianism to a very creepy and hollowed out vessel for evil incarnate. There's never a moment where Calis comes across as a young actress playing a sinister character – even when the movie pushes family drama to the side in favor of upping the horror ante. Whether playing Em lucid and aware or "possessed", as soon as the box is opened, Calis delivers a smart balance that keeps the young girl's fear and confusion consistently at the forefront – which is far more horrifying to watch than many of the movie's scripted scares. [via]
Here's a little interview with Natasha Calis [via]:
BD: You have to go through quite a lot in this movie.
NC: Yes. It's about this little girl who finds this box which contains malicious demons that infect her. And it's her family's job to reunite and save her before it's too late. I unfortunately get possessed.
BD: What were some of the craziest things you had to do?
NC: Oh gosh, there were a few. I did all my stunts and I had a blast doing them. Probably one of the scariest things was that in one scene they had to dump buckets and buckets of moths on me. Real life moths! It wasn't very pleasant. I was in this room by myself and it was really dark and I had all of these moths crawling all over me.
BD: This is your first horror movie.
NC: Yes.
BD: Are you a fan of the genre?
NC: Yeah. I haven't seen a lot of them but I love getting a good scare sometimes and would like to see more. I love the ones that I do see.
BD: Have you seen this one yet?
NC: Yeah. It's sooooo scary!
Director Ole Bornedal said, "Some really weird things happened. I've never stood underneath a neon light before that wasn't lit, that all of a sudden exploded. The worst thing was, five days after we wrapped the movie, all the props burned. This storage house in Vancouver burned down to the ground, and the fire department does not know the cause. I'm not a superstitious man, and I would like to say, 'Yeah, it's just a coincidence.'"
Cool huh?
If you are a horror movie fan, you must watch this movie!
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