With #1 box office rankings for two consecutive weeks, The Possession might seem like one of the better films in the horror movie genre. Obviously, box office popularity is irrelevant to cinema quality.

Opening with a trite yet eerie warning that the film is based on a true story, the small black-and-white line did little to ameliorate the lack of fear-inducing material in the movie.

The film followed a relatively common storyline involving divorced parents Clyde (Jeffrey Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) who take care of their two daughters Em (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport). While the children are with Clyde one weekend, they stop at a yard sale where the younger Em is subconsciously drawn to a wooden box inscribed with Hebrew characters. Purchasing and taking it home, Em opens the box, which Clyde later identifies as a Jewish Dibbuk Box, hosting an evil soul from old Jewish folklore (a dibbuk) that begins its attempt to assume a mortal body. Clyde enlists the help of Rabbi Tzadok (Matisyahu) to help him perform a ritual to prevent the dibbuk from latching onto Em.

This hackneyed plot seems stolen from almost every supernatural horror film ever made, yet its unoriginality is not the sole reason for its failure in critical reception. The superficiality of the movie and its lack of in-depth coverage on any aspect of the story are severe detriments to the terror-inducing quality that movie-goers expect when buying tickets for a “scary movie”. If the goal is to be reasonably frightened by another clichéd thriller that will keep you up all night, save The Possession for another time – it is more of a lightweight comedy than a horror movie, and it would make more sense if it were parodying the stereotyped genre instead of taking part in it.

However, the terrific cinematography does not fail to impress, with high budget lighting and more attention paid to shots than to the plot. Wide-angle scenes and a little too much effort put into a ‘realistic’ setting distract from the lack of story structure. Specifically, though, the below-average special effect scenes are highly disappointing and the lack of graphic violence is reasonably foreshadowed by the PG-13 rating. Most scenes are either too long or too short and arguably could have been drastically improved by any increase in detail. The movie conceals most of the action and gore, reducing the genre of the film to an inadequate pseudo-horror flick appropriate for a late night TV rerun rather than a $11 Saturday night out.

Except for Em, the character development is pathetic and shallow; sub par acting and dialogue that should have been considered heresy are prevalent throughout the entire film. Calis, ironically, is the only one that displays any sense of theatrical prowess, despite being the youngest main character. Although there is a fine line between trying too hard to be believable and hitting it just right, Calis prevails with her subtle and even graceful transformation into the one welcome cliché of a satanically possessed creature.

Anti-climactic scenes end with a feeling of anticipation that is never fulfilled, and this vapid cycle of expectation and disappointment is recurrent throughout the whole film. Many important scenes are destroyed by the deteriorating sense of humor that is ironically better embodied in the plot than outright attempts within the dialogue.

Against all the negative critic reviews, anyone interested to see the movie is still recommended to do so, but instead of viewing it as a high-budget psychological thriller that will keep you raving for the next couple weeks, enter with the mindset that it is a satirical play on banal horror film mishaps that will get you to laugh for exactly 1.5 hours on end.