The Possessed

This would have been a lot better if it hadn't been presented as a "true story" based on "actual events." As a Catholic, I have no doubt the existence of demons and evil spirits. This guy makes exorcists look like circus sideshow freaks. For those of you who already hold that belief, go ahead and feel free to skip this movie altogether. It's not for you.

Having said that, it's an interesting work of FICTION as is perfectly entertaining as far as that goes. The problem comes when you try to associate this with reality. When they show the guy on whom this was based at the end, you lose all interest in everything you just watched. You're better off watching this as entertainment and stopping the movie as soon as the credits begin to roll. You'll feel much better about having spent an hour and a half watching this.

Jacob Chandler became an exorcist after a tragedy in 2001. He has exorcised many possessed by demons in what he calls clearing. His nephew Liam, Liam's girlfriend Atalie Carlisle who has the curse of seeing the demons, and their group of young friends join him in a difficult clearing.

This is a different exorcist. It's still an exorcist and it has many of the same ideas. Supposedly, it's a real guy from the opening text and closing credits although I can't take him that seriously. First, there's the shaky hand which looks like a gimmick. Second, the Australian accent doesn't fit my mind's image of an exorcist. Finally, there is the Hawaiian shirt. I can almost hear him sing Kokomo. It's a funny visual. At least, he does change into a black T-shirt which is a minor improvement. The best option is to play into the silly image like a Crocodile Dundee. It may turn it into a farce, but it would be interesting. While I'm uncertain about the guy, I do like the demon designs. This is a smaller indie horror with all the standard horror tropes. The story is very simplistic and straight-forward. This very much depends on how one sees Jacob.

The writing and acting are pretty bad in this film. The main character overacts constantly, and the poor acts must have a broken wrist from all the silly hand waving he had to do. The story does not have a real arc, but is jut a series of events with no clear silver thread through them all. The characters do not really develop at all, and the settings are boring.

All that being said, the effects are really good, like, almost Holly-wood quality good! The demons look fantastic and truly frightening. The possession effects, including sound, are great, too.

That's why I call this movie weird and contradictory: terrible acting and writing, but great effects. Weird.

I've watched several new horror films in the past week and this film is the only one I would watch again. Not because it was a great horror film, or well done, or well acted, it isn't any of those things. What it is is so hilariously, over the top, they've got to be kidding, bad, that it is very funny and immensely entertaining. I watched it with a friend who rarely gets movies that are so bad they are good, but we weren't long into this when he started to laugh, then I followed and we both laughed throughout it. It get's funny and then gets funnier. Since there is one character who was obviously put in this horror film to add comic relief, I can't help wonder if this really was filmed as a comedy. I know it's based on some real life stuff, but this was preposterous. I find it hard to believe anyone would view this as a real horror film, but as a spoof of possession films, this completely works. Loved it !

Not everything was bad about The Possessed, like some of the actual demonic possessions (good acting here from some), and the different demons (some looked good for the low budget this movie must have). But then you get the acting. That wasn't a good thing in this movie. Jade Kevin Foster was the only one that was watchable. John Jarratt on the other hand was really bad. The shaky hand thing whilst he does his clearing looks ridiculous but then again in the end credits they show actual footage from the real person and he did the exact same thing, even worse, so I guess John Jarratt nailed that part. But for the rest he clearly needs to keep his day job. Lincoln Lewis was also annoying to watch. In fact the whole movie feels like one of those cheap Australian soaps like Neighbours or Home and Away, but in this case it's not a soap but a movie. The same garnage but luckily for us this one ends after a couple of hours.