Grace: The Possession (2014) #409

"Grace: The Possession" may seem like just another story about a sheltered naive young girl who becomes possessed by an evil demon who is eventually freed through the efforts of an exorcism, but there is more to this film than meets the eye. What sets this movie apart from films such as "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", "La Posesion de Emma Evans", and "The Last Exorcism" is how you watch the events unfold, through the eyes of Grace, the girl who is possessed. Everything in the film is seen from the point of view of Grace, giving the movie the feeling that you are watching a found footage movie, just like the recent remake of "Maniac". Beyond this clever and effective use of shaky-cam, "Grace" doesn't deliver anything new to this sub-genre. The movie hits the typical plot points that are common for this theme from the slow discovery of the possession, to the demon taking control, to the timing of the exorcism; even the "twist" ending is exactly what you expect. Alexia Fast gives a fine performance as Grace and I hope to see her in future horror films.

Finders Keepers (2014) #406

"Finders Keepers" is a weak horror film that borrows heavily from both "Child's Play" and "Trilogy of Terror", where the focus of the story is about a evil, possessed doll that kills everyone. This doll, named Lilith, looks similar to the Zuni fetish doll from "Trilogy" and is just as violent. Lilith is also found and loved by a young girl, who she quickly possesses, and Lilith doesn't waste any time in her efforts to kill the people around her new friend. And like the original "Child's Play", various adults suspect that either the young girl or even her newly divorced mother is to blame for the body count. But unlike either film, the film is seriously lacking any scares or even scenes of the doll in motion killing people. The doll just sits there, the girl just screams when someone tries to take the doll away, an the girl just screams some more when someone tries to give her a new doll. My other complaint is this - why are all of the victims who are stabbed with a knife are stabbed so high in the backs; the doll is barely a 12 inches tall. The movie pushes good taste and patience and isn't worth the time to watch.

Deliver Us From Evil (2014) #405

Director Scott Derrickson is back with familiar material in his newest film, "Deliver Us From Evil". Unfortunately, this movie fails to find the nice balance between normal and supernatural that "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", or the truly frightening suspense and tension that was built up in "Sinister". I disliked the movie overall considering that the first half was much too slow. Also, the movie spends too much time in the dark with too many overwhelming shadows and sickly green backgrounds. Despite it's shortcomings,"Deliver Us From Evil" finds some interesting and entertaining moments late in the film concerning possessions and exorcisms.

Based on real experiences by New York cop Ralph Sarchie, "Deliver Us From Evil" follows his work with a castilin priest as they track down a possessed marine who is spreading his influence among others in the city.

The Bell Witch Haunting (2013)

"The Bell Witch Haunting" is a Found Footage movie that is full of horrible oversights, that but for some reason or another I still found entertaining. Some of the unforgivable oversights is that the movie takes places during January in Tennessee and yet the movie opens with a summer-like pool party. There is another scene a few days later where a group of girls are posing in their swim suits. Really? Other distractions include overly shaky shaky-cams and the fact that previous footage that shows some kind of evidence is only looked over once with any kind of result; the film is never looked over by the parents when things really get going and this seems like a huge plot hole. Finally, there is the grand moment when the father tells his family that they "won't be moving", that he spent all of their money to buy the house. While the film is takes obvious cues and plot-lines from "Paranormal Activity", there is enough of action and something going on screen to keep the viewer watching, especially at 3:30 in the morning.


The Sawyer Family just moved into their new house in Tennessee after relocating from Chicago. The film begins with Brandon's birthday (the son), where we quickly are introduced to his young looking parents Scott and Janette, and his sister Dana. Brandon receives a fancy new camcorder for his birthday, with which he records most of the events that follow. After a few nights of his sister experiencing extreme night terrors, Brandon's friend Colby tells him about the Bell Witch, a local legend dating back to the 1800's and how the Witch haunting and tormented the Bell family for generations, and how Brandon and his family live on the Bell family's estate. After Brandon and Colby set up additional cameras around his house, ghostly activity spikes and Dana's night terrors increase. Soon both Dana and Scott become possessed, forcing Janette to turn to religious means in order to help her family deal with their problem. A priest comes and begins a house cleansing who only gets killed when Dana becomes fully possessed. Afterwards, she rushes into the woods, where her family tries to follow only to never be seen alive again....

The Conjuring (2013)

One of the surprise hits of the 2013 Summer line up was "The Conjuring", a little 20 million dollar budget film that managed to bring in over 300 million at the box office. Directed by the incredible James Wan and staring one of his regular actors, Patrick Wilson, "The Conjuring" is a clever, scary horror movie is about Ed and Lorraine Warren, real life paranormal investigators, and one of their encounters while investigating the home of the Perron Family. Along with Patrick Wilson, the movie stars Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, and Vera Farmiga. The movie has a great script, beautiful and effect scenes, and some of the best practical effects I've seen in a horror movie in a very long time. The use of digital effects is kept to a minimum which allows the other effects to feel real. This film is intense and unforgiving and is smart enough to avoid out right gore or extreme violence. I think it's great that James Wan came out with two superb horror movies in the same year and that he was able to make them almost equally as intense while having one rated be "R" and the other "PG-13".

"The Conjuring" follows Ed and Lorraine Warren as they go about their lives teaching classes about their paranormal research and investigations as well as solving two distinct cases. The first case involves a doll that was allowed to be possessed by a demonic force. The Warrens take the doll, Annabel, to their home and add it to their vast collection of demonic and haunted artifacts for safe keeping. The second and prominent case revolves around the Perrons, a large family of two parents and five daughters, who move into an old farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Strange occurrences and frightening disturbances are witnessed by the family, including unexplained bruises that appear over the mother's body. When the mother, Carolyn, reaches out to the Warren's, they agree to go to the farmhouse and take a look. Lorraine immediately sees that there is a sinister force that has already attached itself to the family. With the help of the Warrens and their assistants, the Perron family attempts to stay strong and survive the ordeal at being at the mercy of an ancient evil...

Favorite moment - I love the scene when Ed Warren is showing the artifact room to a reporter and explaining that they keep the items here, where the room is blessed weekly by a priest, because destroying the items would only release the evil trapped within.

 Annabel, the possessed doll

 Ed Warren and the vision that only his wife can see...

Lorraine Warren trying to help during the exorcism 

Insidious 2 (2013)

See this movie! “Insidious 2” picks up exactly where the original left off at, keeping the intensity that was steadily built throughout the film and finds a way to take it up a notch. Nothing is subtle in this ghost story because it doesn’t need to be and that’s what makes this film so much fun. It’s intelligent, it suspenseful, it has moments of comic relief that doesn’t feel forced, it’s still PG-13, and it has some freaky moments. The entire original cast returns, including the incredible duo of director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell.  Go see this movie!

At the end of “Insidious”, it appeared that Josh Lambert was possessed by the ghost of an old woman that had been following him since his childhood and that he/she strangled the spirit medium Elise. In “Insidious 2”, the police suspect Josh of being Elise’s killer. While he’s free until being charged of the crime, Josh and his wife Renai move their young family in to the childhood home that Josh and his mother Lorraine lived in. During the first night there, Lorraine, Renai , and Dalton see ghostly visions. Josh doesn’t believe them and warns his mother to not get his family worried about such nonsense. While Renai stays at home and has another encounter with a ghost, Lorraine goes and gets help from Elise’s partners, Specs and Tucker, as well as a medium named Carl. Together they discover who the old ghost woman who is haunting Josh is. In the meantime, Renai and her two sons are attacked by a possessed Josh. Will Lorraine and the others make it in time to save Renai and her family before it’s too late?

The old ghost woman

 Lorraine, Josh, Dalton, and Renai

Dalton is not having a dream...

Angry, angry ghosts

The Last Exorcism 2 (2013)

I’m beginning to love horror movies that are rated PG-13 more and more. Why? Because they don’t solely depend on violence and gore, they don’t need sex scenes (because how many times has that been the cause for terror in a horror movie anyway?), and they can keep the profanity to a minimum. Most, not all, of them are amazing and tend to have stronger stories and more real scares than their R rated counterparts. “The Last Exorcism 2” is a perfect example of a great PG-13 horror movie, just as the original film was too. The atmosphere and pacing were perfect and set up the second half of the film just right.

This is a great film to end a week about possession because it’s all about a girl who was possessed in the first film and is now trying to keep the demon from taking over once again.

The film begins almost immediately after the first film, when Nell was last seen giving birth to a demon. She ends up scaring the crap out of couple when she ends up invading their home and found crouching on their kitchen counter. Fast forward a bit and Nell is now in a house for troubled/orphaned older teens. She slowly let’s her guard down and becomes friendly with the other girls (remember, she was home schooled after her mother died). She gets a job as a maid for a hotel and develops a crush on the owner’s son. She gets to experience Mardi Gras and while she’s out, a street performer tells her that “they’re happy” that she’s back. This is when the film begins change and takes its tragic course as the followers and powers of the demon Abalam begin to surface, beginning with Nell having hallucinations of dead father.

La posesión de Emma Evans (2010)

“La posesión de Emma Evans” is a Spanish film that takes place in London with an English speaking cast. This film is different than the typical “The Exorcist” inspired possession movie in a few of ways. First, it shows that the teenage girl who becomes possessed actually summoning the demon on her own accord. Second, the exorcism ritual is performed in a series of sessions over several days and feeling more like therapy appointments (that is until you see the recordings that the priest is keeping for himself). Finally, the big twist in the end is unique for this theme and I liked it. The rest of the movie, on the other hand, was a difficult chore to get through. The acting is subpar and the storyline is boring at times. Even Doug Bradley’s appearance (all 2 minutes worth) is dull and flat. This could have been a great movie had the film makers simply cast a talented actor in the role of Emma rather than some typical teen-angst filled teen.

The Exorcist (1973)

"The Exorcist" is a true horror classic, frightening and disturbing audiences ever since it came out in 1973. My parents first date was seeing a showing of "The Exorcist" the day after Christmas (I wonder if that helps to explain why I love horror so much?). When it was rereleased in theaters in the early 2000's with a few deleted scenes, it continued to scare those who watched it. 

Now I will admit that I was not scared by the movie the first time I saw it. Much like "Halloween", I had seen the first few minutes numerous times before being kicked out of the room. So when I finally saw it, I was a little disappointed because I had such high expectations. The only thing that really gave me the chills was the haunting soundtrack. But then in 9th grade I read the book and after gaining a solid understanding of the story, the movie proved to be chilling the second time I saw it. Lesson of the day is to wait until you're old enough/mature enough to realize that what you're watching is creepy as hell!

It's about Regan, a tween who becomes possessed by a very powerful and diabolical demon and the priest who is losing his faith who must confront the demon and make the ultimate sacrifice in the battle if good versus evil. That's all I'm going to say. If you've seen it, you know what happens. If you haven't seen it, you should!

Favorite moment - when the priest asks the possessed Regan why she doesn't break her bounds if she wants to be loose but had the ability to do so, the demon cooly responds that " it would be a vulgar display of power"

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is the cautionary tale about the aftermath of an exorcism gone wrong. Sometimes people who are possessed die and this movie follows the court trial of the priest who performed the exorcism, switching from scenes of the court case to flashbacks involving Emily Rose. It’s an effective court drama as well as a reasonable horror movie. Jennifer Carpenter did a fantastic job of bending her body in the various demonic contortions without the aid of visual effects.

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” focuses on Erin Bruner, a defense lawyer who is working on a case where her client, Father Richard Moore, is charged with negligent homicide after he attempted to perform an exorcism on Emily Rose. Erin approaches the case with a clear and realistic point of view and ignores Father Moore’s request to let him take the stand. Father Moore truly believes that what he did was in the best interest of Emily Rose and her family, and as the movie goes on, Erin begins to understand his assertions. When Emily Rose first became possessed, she was diagnosed with epilepsy and having seizures. But as the drugs that she was given didn’t have the proper effect and her conditioned worsened, her family asked Father Moore to intervene. He tries to help but is unable to cast out the demons. Before she dies, Emily Rose has a vision that gives her hope and release and once awake, she writes a letter explaining her options. At the end of the movie, Father Moore reads the letter to the court before receiving his judgment. 

Favorite moment – I really like the flash back scenes of Emily Rose and how the scenes were tense, effective, and engaging without having to be violent of gory.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

“The Amityville Horror” is one of the quintessential horror movies from the 1970’s, complete with a stellar cast, a memorable and outstanding story, numerous sequels, and its fair share of controversy. The movie is based on the book of the same name which a recounting of real events of a mass murder in a house in New York and the supposed occurrences that took were witnessed by the Lutz Family who had moved in after the tragedy. Although this is clearly a great ghost story, the possession element is obvious when George Lutz slowly goes mad and begins acting like the crazy father that killed his family without reason in the past. Luckily for George and his family, he recovers quite easily from his possession unlike many of the others who become possessed in the other film I’m reviewing this week.

George and Katy Lutz decide to buy and move their family into a beautiful old house that happened to have been the location of a mass murder the year before. In that event, a father killed his wife and four children with a rifle for no apparent reason. George and Katy are well aware of this (which is very refreshing) and realize that this is why the house is so cheap. It doesn’t take long after they move in for the weird ghost like occurrences to begin such as objects moving, chairs rocking, and a room full of flies. A catholic priest that he couple had asked to bless their home realizes that something is amiss and his judgments are only confirmed when the wife of George’s business partner senses the paranormal activity. George becomes withdrawn and begins acting oddly and is slowly possessed by the evil within the house while Katy has persistent dreams that reveal minor details of the murders. Eventually the family learns that their house is/has a gateway to Hell. Katy finds a picture of the killer and sees that it looks just like George, is able to get back to the house just in time to save her children from a possessed George, and the family safely escape the house and never return.

Favorite moment – I really like the flashback scenes of the murders as George and Katy are first walking through the house with the real-estate agent. I also like George’s very 70’s look and his hair that just becomes more and more crazy and unkempt as he loses his self-control and sanity.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

I consider “Paranormal Activity 2” to be a vast improvement over the original installment; just because a movie has a small budget, or almost no budget at all like “PA1” had, isn’t always an excuse for subpar acting. “Paranormal Activity 2” finds the perfect balance between the daytime scenes versus the more exciting nighttime scenes. The daytime are informative and are not used as filler like they felt in the first film. And the ghostly effects are just as effective if not more so. I’m even more impressed with the pacing knowing that this is the longest movie of the series so far.

Like the original “Paranormal Activity”, the film is seen through the lenses of video cameras located around the house. This time they are security cameras that are installed after a bulgary at Kristi and Dan’s house. The daytime scenes are all about the interactions of the family and their reactions to the scenes that happen at night and the nighttime scenes are when the ghostly activity takes place. The action starts slowly but builds quickly enough to keep the viewer engaged and spooked during the night scenes. The ending connects the two movies in an exciting fashion and sets the stage for the third installment.

The Last Exorcism (2010)

“The Last Exorcism” is a single camera, found footage movie that’s about a disillusioned reverend who is working with a film crew to expose his secrets on how he performs fraudulent exorcisms. This movie is a great example that not every horror movie needs an R rating (this is PG-13) to be effective. Horror movies don’t have to have endless gore, nudity, and profanity to be scary.

From a very young age, Reverend Cotton Marcus was groomed to be a man of god. As a child he began delivering riveting sermons and even performed his fist exorcism when he was ten. Now as an adult with a family of his own, Cotton has lost his faith and is giving up his career as an exorcist. He always believed that he was helping people and performing a service, for a fee, but after reading about an autistic child dying while having an exorcism performed made Cotton decide to give up this line of work. Before doing so, Cotton has agreed to perform one last exorcism and have the entire process filmed to prove that what he does isn’t real. So with director/producer Iris and her cameraman Daniel in tow, they head to the back country of Louisiana to help a teenage girl named Nell.

Nell is a sweet young teenager who lives with her father and brother out on a secluded farm. The father, Louis Sweetzer, has kept his children at home and away from town since their mother died. Louis wrote to Cotton asking for help after some of his livestock is killed and Nell is found covered in blood and unable to remember what had happened.  After assessing the situation and confirming that Nell is possessed by a demon named Abalam, Cotton rigs Nell’s room with various tricks and effects that he’ll use during the fake exorcism. During the ritual itself, the bed begins to shake and Nell lies on top of it and a speaker programmed with over 800 demon sounds is heard. Afterwards, Cotton declares that Nell has been freed from her possession and leaves with his payment. Later that night while staying at a motel in town, Cotton finds Nell awake but in a trance in his room. As they try to figure out what really is going on, Cotton discovers the dark truth and a reason to find faith one last time. 

Favorite moment – A possessed Nell takes Daniel’s camera , and after beating a cat to death in the barn, is standing over Cotton while he is sleeping, about to bludgeon him to death as well.