Review: The Possession

The Possession (2012)

A little girl becomes the victim of a vicious demon from the ancient Hebrew world, set over the backdrop of a newly divorced family. I have to wonder why demons tend to possess little girls, I guess its just because they seem the most vulnerable to any kind of corruption. I was definitely sympathetic to the family, I thought their performance was very good, although I found the mother's character a little frustrating (pretty sure I was supposed to). The movie was definitely pretty creepy at parts, and I liked that the demon this time was from Hebrew mythology. I found it refreshing to dip into a different pantheon. I had heard about this one quite a while ago, glad I finally watched it.

Review: The Innkeepers

The Innkeepers

Are you in the mood for a spooky ghost story? The Inkeepers focuses on the two clerks who work at a hotel that's going under, who pass the time trying to prove the presence of the paranormal. This is a slow-burn movie, taking its time to build up the tension, with a few jump scares sprinkled through until the climax. Over the last weekend of the hotel's operation the duo take turns working and investigating with cameras and voice recorders looking for ghosts. They also start learning about the last guests staying at the hotel and their mysterious backgrounds. I really liked Sara Paxton's performance as the very believably awkward and vulnerable Claire. She has a relatabley mundane life of a young 20-something college drop-out along with her male counterpart both are trying to find meaning or substance in their lives by trying to find the ghosts at the hotel, and then things get bad for them. I definitely recommend it for people who like creepy atmosphere and subtlety mixed with a couple jump-scares. This is my first time watching a feature from director Ti West, I heard good things about him from this and The House of the Devil but I didn't really care for his segment in V/H/S. I enjoyed this so I'm going to have to see House of the Devil.

Review: Ju-on: The Grudge

Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

Probably surprising that until now I haven't gotten around to seeing the original "The Grudge" movie. Somehow I manage to overlook Japanese horror (as opposed to Kaiju flicks which I adore) but that's a mistake I will be correcting from now on. Ju-on is pretty creepy, and kind of sad. The presentation was a little chronologically disjointed which was a little confusing at first, but really probably the best way they could keep the suspense with a fairly straight-forward ghost story. I feel like there is underlying theme to the movie about the lasting effect of tragedies on the community, which I imagine would probably be a lot stronger of a theme in an eastern culture. As the haunting effect touches more people through the movie it evokes a sense of communal loss and hysteria as it claims more victims. I got a sense from the movie that "your neighbor's problems wont stay their's". I dunno, I liked it.