Harefooted Halloween: Possession

What I Liked: The performances by Sam Neill (Event Horizon), Isabelle Adjani (The Driver) and Heinz Bennent are totally in-fuckin’-sane.  They were committed absolutely.  Every scene is filled with so much emotion, physical self-abuse and lots and lots of primal out-of-body yelling.  This is the reason to see the movie.

Most of the ballsy camera moves work where it’ll spin around at different speeds, go to strange angles and ride out a scene until the bitter end.

The look of this is everyday cinematic which is a new term I’m coining.  Nothing about the lighting, exposure, art or production design is beyond the normal boundaries of what you see in your everyday life.  But it’s a damn pretty and crisp version of how you might see everyday life.  (This isn’t to say the plot elements and character actions are ho hum everyday shit, all of that is entirely abnormal)

What I Didn’t Like: This is more of a minor gripe but the story is kinda hard to follow.  That’s probably just me though.  All of the shit in here has meaning I’m sure but fuck if I know what it is.

Overall Impressions: Possession is notorious for being difficult to pin down.  Is it horror?  Is it straight drama?  Is it fantasy?  I’m not sure myself.  There are certainly elements of horror sprinkled throughout but it doesn’t really feel like a horror movie.  Is this woman possessed by the devil or is she simply out of her goddamn mind?  The title implies there’s a demon involved and sure, there are wiggly slimy alien creatures to be found, but then again the picture could only be about divorce or falling out of love with someone.  Or this lady could actually be having an affair with Satan.  However you wanna see it.

This is a tough one to talk about partly because I don’t know how to interpret this thing but also because you’re probably better off not knowing very much going in.  At the same time I would be remiss if I didn’t bring it up to you guys.  It’s just…so…fucking…weird.

Seriously though the acting is some of the craziest and best I’ve ever seen.  Everyone’s all in.  And if you’re daring enough to check it out proceed at your own risk.  Shit’s gonna get pretty out there for a little while.