Vom Teufel besessen

I just saw this movie a few nights ago and even though the plot was predictable in places, the performances make it worth watching. Timothy Dalton's portrayal of a priest tormented by wartime flashbacks was quite believable and almost moving in parts. The exorcism rituals and events are more believable than those in The Exorcist and your don't need any previous Catholic upbringing to keep up.

Other than the paranormal events which occur, one can almost believe the child is simply a severely psychotic individual with a fixation on the afterlife and demonic imagery, which lends an air of credibility to the presentation. If you chose to believe the events have been exaggerated and the paranormal occurrences did not occur as documented then this story should sit well with you. Even those that take the account as accurate as told will find the story quite gripping.

Regardless of your level of belief I think just about all will find this story well told in this movie. Your disbelief will not need to be suspended very much to walk away from this film with a good impression.

I have been watching horror films lately, which is a bit of a switch for me. I remember seeing the Exorcist films and even watched the second one again recently, wanting more of the inner life and workings of the priest, Father Merrin. This film far exceeds any I have seen dealing with this subject matter before (Emily Rose being a close second).

You have the usual Hollywood stuff thrown in, but what really gave this film such a high mark for me was the great masculine, spiritually focused portrayal by the main priest as played by Timothy Dalton. His characters friendship with the other priest and his inner life is exactly what I longed for in similar films dealing with exorcism but NEVER found. This is not a perfect film and Dalton does say one famous Betty Davis line that takes you right out of the film (I laughed) but its entertaining and I think riveting. More time could have been spent with the overwrought parents, especially the dad who seemed more possessed than the kid at times, and they didn't spend months working on the child as I think it took in real life, but all in all a good faith effort. Yes, a testimony in part of the fact that Jesus has Won and Wins and that saving souls is still important even in modern times. Rent the DVD and watch the extra (a real life interview with one of the priests involved in the exorcism).

Considering this was based on a true story that took place in the 1940's you would think 60 yrs later they could do a better job!

The main character is very badly cast even taking into account the boys age he is just not adequate for the role. Timothy Dalton as the priest is probably the films saving grace but even he can't carry a badly thought out cast and story.

The Excorcist will always be and remain the most scary and well produced and cast Horror in my eyes, that aside this movie offers nothing and some scenes I actually found comedic which is not what you expect in a horror not helped by the music score during some of the scenes either.

Amazing! Whoever would have expected to see James Bond matching it with Regan's distant young cousin!

Based for the most part on Thomas Allen's book of supposedly the only bona-fide recorded exorcism ever conducted in the US, Dalton is just out of his tree as Father William Bowden, the priest who actually performed the exorcism on the young Mannheim boy.

Given a more direct and less Hollywoodesque approach, the circumstances of the boy's "affliction" (and many, having watched this will have their doubts) are presented as totally realistic. The exorcism itself is deftly handled and Dalton gives a power-house performance as the priest being torn apart by forces he can barely comprehend. He gets finally to show his considerable acting skills, uncluttered by his usual veneer of a one-dimensional and synthetic personality. (He was starting to get there in HAWKS!)

This telemovie comes highly recommended for both believers and non-believers. Both sides will get something out of this!

Yes, or course there are the usual amount of cliched semi-plots that add to the character development and have nothing to do with the story, but POSSESSED is quite good. Not really scary to me, but if you are a religious person, then it is quite possible that this movie will f*** you in the head! So be warned. Take the same warning for THE EXORCIST. Both of these films are similar (because one inspired the other) and they are both disturbing.

The ending of this film was not as good as I was hoping, but the rest of the film was pretty much everything I wanted. The acting is cheesy in some cases, but Timothy Dalton and Christopher Plummer both do good. I recommend all those other demon movies, like THE EXORCIST, END OF DAYS, LOST SOULS, BLESS THE CHILD, and STIGMATA.

POSSESSED: 4/5.