Search - Possessed on DVD

Christ Compels You

Rev. E. Antonio Hernandez | 02/21/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Edited review: it has been only three months, apparently, since I reviewed this ridiculous film. I think enough time has passed to be able to critique the movie at length--and boy, does it need some critiquing!

This film, first off, is Timothy Dalton at his best, no doubts there, but he does get unnecessarily operatic. This is the true story of "Robbie", a man presently in his 60s with a family, and is the true story behind "The Exorcist". So, the subject in question can never be named publicly.

Dalton plays Father Bill Bowdern, real name, the tough WWII veteran turned priest who was called in to perform the series of Exorcism Masses for "Robbie". Though the script is rather silly, it does show a great deal of truth in exorcism, and also shows us the basic outline of the true story of this poor boy who seemed possessed by several demons.

A real problem I have with this movie is the truly stupid tone. It has ridiculous music and songs; it has some of the worst acting I've ever seen in my life; there are times when it is palpable that the actors are either scene-chewing or trying to sound like they are in that era. Well, people sounded pretty much the same in the 1940s and 1950s as they do today, so....

Another odd and disturbing thing is the attempt at humor throughout the film. Clearly it is a profound and religious drama--I'm pretty touchy about the way those things are handled. We all recall Linda Blair's head-spinning in THE EXORCIST. This didn't need any of that, but it did not need the weird levity the writers and director introduced here.

The subject of the exorcism, little freckle-faced Jonathan Malen, is also not particularly skilled as an actor. No one could have done truly well with a role like this, but I think a 16-year-old boy, with whom we could develop empathy and who could act, would have been the right way to go. So says the know-it-all critic. But I have to add, my casting choice is closer to the real thing than Jonathan.

Also ridiculous is Christopher Plummer as the archbishop. Plummer is known for bringing his own bizarre, Alzheimerish twists to roles, but he outdoes himself here. They may as well have used George Carlin, like they did in DOGMA.

Don't expect to be scared silly, because the whole story is not shown in this "Showtime Special" film, and what is shown is, well, silly. The scene with the priests striding down the corridor in their vestments brought so many of the wrong kind of movies to mind that I laughed out loud. That type of scene is one, I can tell you, that does not happen.

On the upside, the film gives some bite to the ritual and the superstition of exorcism as accepted by the Catholic Church of Rome, and is a true homage to a genuine hero, Father William Bowdern--and to his real sidekick, Father Walter Halloran (played in the film by Michael MacLachlan). Fr. Halloran is still alive today, and is sometimes a marvelous source. Sometimes Fr. Halloran won't talk.

Lastly: this case is NOT the only known exorcism in America. There was a case in Ames, Iowa in the 1920s that was well studied in seminaries, as well as a more recent case as stupidly portrayed in 2005's THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (a/k/a "The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel"). This of course is an update of an older case, but it constitutes the third known case of exorcism in the U.S.

It escapes me why producers do goofy junk like this; it amounts to false advertizing. POSSESSED is certainly one of only two films in America based on the same true exorcism. Too much of a mouthful I guess.

It is for all of this I took 1 star away from POSSESSED.

This film will convince you that HBO, not Showtime (who made this clunker) is the place for good fact-based film."

Fascinating case, terrible movie

Robin Solsjö Höglund | Skellefteå, Sweden | 11/08/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In this Showtime TV-movie, based upon a supposed real case of exorcism, Timothy Dalton plays a priest who becomes drawn into a situation with a young boy supposedly possessed.

The performances are stone serious or absurdly childish, there is no suspense to be found in the writing, effects or production design, and it left me disappointed that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take the film seriously. It isn't delivered in a believable way, and becomes lost in mediocrity.

I can't recommend the film, but I can somewhat recommend the book, which is at least a somewhat interesting, if not all too convincing read."