I've always liked the possession sub-genre of horror. There's something entirely unnerving about an internal tormentor that can't be fought with weapons but can only be defeated in a battle of faith.
The problem? There just aren't very many GOOD possession movies out there. 'The Exorcist' is obviously the gold standard (still gives me the willies) and films like 'the Exorcism of Emily Rose' and 'the Conjuring' are well worth watching.
So what about "the Possession of Michael King'? Yeah.... not so much.
This is supposed to be another "found footage" style movie, but no one finds the footage. Instead, we are watching this all happen via cameras that the main character has set up as he conducts these evil spirit experiments in an attempt to capture footage of the paranormal. The problem? We see things other than what is just being filmed by the character, we see what is being shot by the actual film crew, immediately dismissing the idea of this being a "found footage" or "documentary". Example: the last scene. Are there cameras set up in his front yard? Sloppy consistency there, fellas.
Then we have the main character who comes off like a bad, reality game show host. It's so painfully obvious that he's acting that it completely pulls you out of the experience. This is bad enough just watching him interact as a normal person, but as he descends into madness, it becomes so cartoon-ish that it's laughable. Much of the film is just him alone in his house, acting crazy and it's pretty embarrassing to watch.
Other than the acting, we have all the tired possession clichés. Jump scares? Check. Ghostly figure in upstairs, child's bedroom window? Check. Creepy voices? Check. See figure reflected in mirror to turn and nothing is there? Check. Static shot of kitchen framing the knife block at the centre, setting up for later when one of the knives is missing? Check. Evil spirit is a 'stealer of children' and wants the guy to kill his daughter? Check. And the list goes on.
Any horror fan has seen all this before; a statement I'm making far too often with modern horror films. It's been a long time since I've seen anything original, as "the Blair Witch Project" was probably the last film that brought something new to the genre. And with Hollywood's predilection for all things 'rebooted', originality is not a priority.
The problem? There just aren't very many GOOD possession movies out there. 'The Exorcist' is obviously the gold standard (still gives me the willies) and films like 'the Exorcism of Emily Rose' and 'the Conjuring' are well worth watching.
So what about "the Possession of Michael King'? Yeah.... not so much.
This is supposed to be another "found footage" style movie, but no one finds the footage. Instead, we are watching this all happen via cameras that the main character has set up as he conducts these evil spirit experiments in an attempt to capture footage of the paranormal. The problem? We see things other than what is just being filmed by the character, we see what is being shot by the actual film crew, immediately dismissing the idea of this being a "found footage" or "documentary". Example: the last scene. Are there cameras set up in his front yard? Sloppy consistency there, fellas.
Then we have the main character who comes off like a bad, reality game show host. It's so painfully obvious that he's acting that it completely pulls you out of the experience. This is bad enough just watching him interact as a normal person, but as he descends into madness, it becomes so cartoon-ish that it's laughable. Much of the film is just him alone in his house, acting crazy and it's pretty embarrassing to watch.
Other than the acting, we have all the tired possession clichés. Jump scares? Check. Ghostly figure in upstairs, child's bedroom window? Check. Creepy voices? Check. See figure reflected in mirror to turn and nothing is there? Check. Static shot of kitchen framing the knife block at the centre, setting up for later when one of the knives is missing? Check. Evil spirit is a 'stealer of children' and wants the guy to kill his daughter? Check. And the list goes on.
Any horror fan has seen all this before; a statement I'm making far too often with modern horror films. It's been a long time since I've seen anything original, as "the Blair Witch Project" was probably the last film that brought something new to the genre. And with Hollywood's predilection for all things 'rebooted', originality is not a priority.