THE POSSESSION is yet another vanilla-flavoured American version of a Japanese ghost film. This one's not a remake for a change, but the similarities and scare sequences appear to have been liberally borrowed from the likes of THE GRUDGE remake and others besides. Unsurprisingly, Sam Raimi's production company Ghost House Pictures is behind this, producers of THE GRUDGE and its sequels.

This time around, the plot revolves around an old box that might just have a demon hiding inside it. The box comes into the possession of a young girl and the rest of the film is a knock off of THE EXORCIST and all the other demonic possession type films you can think of. There are a few startling scenes here, but for most of the running time THE POSSESSION is a bland, predictable bore, shoehorned into a PG-13 rating.

Danish director Ole Bornedal was once acclaimed for his thriller NIGHTWATCH but nowadays seems to be treading water. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was so memorable in WATCHMEN but his nice guy fatherly hero type is bland beyond belief, and the less said about Kyra Sedgwick the better. The child actors appear to think screaming and screeching all the while amounts to realistic acting, whereas in reality it's just annoying. THE POSSESSION is Hollywood film-making at its blandest.

An old lady tries to destroy a box with Hebrew craving but she is attacked by an invisible force. Basketball coach Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is recently divorced from his wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick). While their daughters Hannah (Madison Davenport) and Emily (Natasha Calis) are staying at his new house, they stop at a yard sale. Emily connects with the box and buys it. She finds a hidden release and opens the box. In it, she finds several containers. She puts on a ring found in one of the containers. Emily starts to change.

There is much new in the execution. There is a new kind of box but that's about it. There is a pretty cool scene of fingers coming out of the girl's throat but most of the best effects are left to the last act. That's probably its biggest problem. The movie is too boring for too long. The first half has limited tension and limited atmosphere. By the time the big climax happens, it's way too late.

The basketball coach Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) divorced a couple of months ago and their teenage daughter Hannah (Madison Davenport) and the girl Emily 'Em' (Natasha Calis) live with their mother and spend the weekends with their father.

One day, Clyde stops his car in a yard sale and Em buys an antique carved box and becomes obsessed with it. Em finds the hidden lock and releases an evil spirit that possesses her. Soon Clyde discovers that Em has a problem, but his annoying ex-wife and her boyfriend Brett (Grant Show) do not pay attention to him and get a restraining order against Clyde.

Clyde seeks out Professor McMannis (Jay Brazeau) and when he sees the box, he explains that it is a Dibbuk Box, where a fiend is trapped inside. He also explains that the box should not be open; otherwise the person will be possessed by the spirit. Now Clyde travels to a Jewish community in New York and the rabbi's son Tzadok (Matisyahu) returns with him expecting to exorcise Em to save the girl.

"The Possession" is a conventional movie of possession and exorcism but is not a bad movie, with good performances. However, the story is totally predictable and does not show anything new in the genre. Last but not the least, Brett simply vanishes from the story without any further explanation. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Possessão" ("Possession")