Special effects fail to save tired story

A child being possessed by an evil spirit is a plotline that has been done so many times that after awhile it becomes repetitive. So “The Possession” proves to be no different.

“The Possession” is a movie about a young girl named Emily who buys an antique box at a yard sale, un-aware that inside the collectible lives a demon’s spirit.

The film is based on the true story of the Dybbuk box, a wine cabinet that was said to be haunted by a demon of Jewish folklore called “dybbuk” who prayed on innocent young children.

The girl’s father Clyde (Jeffery Dean Morgan) teams with his ex-wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) in an attempt to save their child from the demon’s grasp.

 The special effects are great as the movie is creepy in terms of design and execution.

A perfect example is the scene where the demon’s hand comes out of Clyde’s mouth and grabs onto his face creating a real shudder-inducing moment.

The music is perfect and well timed, given at just the right moment with the appropriate level of suspense added in.

The problem lies with the plot. There are some aspects of this movie that, while cool and interesting, don’t make any sense.

An example is a scene where Hannah hears a muffled sound coming from her sister’s room. Along with Clyde they open the door to reveal a giant vortex of moth’s circling Emily as she sits on the bed staring at the demon box in her lap.

Natasha Calis plays Emily, an optimistic 10-year old who still dreams of the reconciliation of her divorced parents.

While it’s creepy, it adds nothing to the overall story, basically placed in to scare viewers.

The only thing truly unique about this film is that while most demonic possession films have a catholic theme, this movie comes from a Jewish perspective.

Anyone who wants to see it should wait for it to come out on Redbox or Netflix if possible.

 The only thing this film teaches you is never buy a creepy looking box from a yard sale unless you now its origin.