Possessed

The most famous flamenco dancer in the world marries the most famous bullfighter in the world, and together they have a son, Damian. But it's not long before tragedy strikes - the bullfighter dies and Damian, well, Damian is acting in a very peculiar way. Meantime, the local bishop has pushed his most daring priest too far and the priest has quit his calling (or has he been defrocked?). The priest, son of embittered Communists, finds himself in a major spiritual crisis, but he may be the only man who can save little Damian from his demons....

"Possessed" is an absolute hoot of a movie - done entirely in Claymation (think Wallace and Gromit) and playing with classic film lines in both visual and auditory forms (at one point a character quotes from "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and there are numerous references to all the "Exorcist" type films out there, not to mention a special appearance by Chthulu himself! Completely over- the-top, with lots and lots of blood and gore and savagery that would be simply appalling if was wasn't, you know, involving characters made out of clay - and really, really funny. Highly recommended!

Trini (Anabel Alonso's voice) is the most famous flamingo dancer in the world and she has an envious life. Everyone loves her dancing, but when a seemingly innocuous domestic accident takes her husband's life, a deep depression falls over Trini forcing her to quit the stage. Damien's behaviour, her 8-year-old son, becomes uncontrollably forcing Trini to call upon doctor after doctor to provide relief. When no answers can be found, there is left only one possible explanation: Damián (voice of Santiago Segura, as well as Bishop and Satán) has been possessed by a dark spirit. Thus, her son Damián begins to show signs of dementia, possessed by a mischievous devil who makes him commit the funniest and cruelest misdeeds. Trini begins a desperate quest to repair her shattered family. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Trini contacts people to solve the weird possession. This search eventually leads to a defrocked priest called Father Lenin (Josema Yuste's voice), whose own severe spiritual crisis may not bode well for what lays ahead. With no where to turn and all other hopes to save her shattered family exhausted, Trini must place her faith in a man whose faith is... questionable!

In the film there are sympathetic but very bizarre roles: a famous female flamenco dancer and a male matador, and especially the Basque priest repudiated by the church and who is going through a crisis of faith. Muppet-gore and animation-gore has been done before, but this is first time being made a claymation-splatter. This is the feature film debut of Samuel Ortí, better known as Sam. Directed with the stop motion technique, made of plasticine; it turns out to be an acidic social satire that is very critical of Spanish folklore and the clichés of sensationalism that touches on celebrities in the press and the gossip shows, as well as horoscope gurus and other fake mediums. With references ranging from the very TV presenters José María Iñigo, Carmen Sevilla to Karmele, Jesús Mariñas or even Belén Esteban.

A crazy, outspoken, cartoonish and zany comedy that leaves no issue unturned. The story is about a demonic son who's subjected to an exorcism brings to mind a few classic movies, then you don't know the half of it. This movie's structure is basically a sequence of spoofs and references to dozens of movies. Also paying homage to several legendary films such as: The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Stepfather, Gremlins, Hellraiser, Alien, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Frankenstein, and Indiana Jones, which are some of its references.

This movie feels like Alex de la Iglesia horror with a black sense of humor and a mean-streak, combined with the comedy of Aardman studios. And this should come as no surprise as it features Santiago Segura. There is very entertaining trashy and mean streak throughout, featuring things like clay bodies being ripped apart, sliced and crushed in very gory ways, eyeballs are not just plucked but impaled with other body parts, dogs are not just impaled but also have their poop crushed out of them, there is a parade of nasty prostitutes, humiliation of a priest, naked grandmas, etc. The superb claymation is lovingly detailed. How you feel about this movie will depend on what you think of its random structure of silly spoofs, but it's definitely highly entertaining and well done.

The motion picture was professionally directed by a Spanish craftsman Samuel Ortí (Sam), who worked for Aardman, only it seems that he vented all of his frustration with Aardman light-fluffy-cuteness here. Since Sam surprised us with his first animated short film Encarna (2003), there hasn't been a year in which we haven't expected a new short from him on the short film festival circuit, always with that gypsy, parodic and mischievous touch with a lot of malice. Thus Hermético (2004), Semántica (2005) until his leap into film production with El ataque de los Kriters asesinos (2007), The werepig (2008) and his latest short piece Vicenta (2010) which would receive his first and well-deserved nomination at the Goya Awards. Master of classic clay stop-motion, Sam has been immersed in this first feature film that is being released with great success after various years without directing, Pos eso (2015). Rating: 6/10.

An animated horror film of Spanish origin made in 2014. There are almost +21 scenes as well as the peak of brutality. But it's funny nonetheless. It's actually an animated version of the movie (see: The Exorcist). The only difference is that the mother is a dancer and the child is a male. The woman is married to Spain's most famous dancer and also the famous matador. They are having a child. This boy is possessed by the devil. There is only one priest who can perform a ritual for this.

Even if the movie is animated, it is not made for children. Lots of boobs out there, lots of sexual stuff. The brutality scenes are truly brutal. The blood is getting grooved. There is no conscience about killing. But it's also absurd and funny.

I'm obviously swimming against the trend here and this movie did bring down the house (cinema) in Sitges were it was shown in 2014. I'll assume that the references in the movie were meant as tributes, which is the positive way to look at it ripping off every major horror movie of at least the last 40 years.

Assuming that, it's not enough to make a good movie. The humor (and violence) feel pretty juvenile and not in a good way. On the other hand, humor is in the eye of the beholder. Even more so than other things in film that are tough to judge for others. If you don't mind the violence and are on the same wavelength (to put it mildly), you might be entertained watching this. But it can also be very easily a disaster for you, which would lead you to rate this even lower than me ... (and it's animated, Claymation I think is the term, which I generally like)

This is an extremely entertaining claymation film with a heavy focus on snappily-paced comedy. It parodies a number of horror classics, primarily The Exorcist: you have your priest suffering from a crisis of faith, and a demon child picking off hapless adults in hilariously over-the-top and gory ways. It's an "anything for a joke" film, and the comedy really shines.

Most of this film focuses on one comedic setpiece after another: a satirical montage of celebrity-obsessed media; slapstick death scenes full of cartoon gore; a terrific otherworldly seance; the list goes on, while the movie does a good job building the tension and showing the demon child's family growing more and more desperate. There isn't a lot to explain here because it's easy to understand what works, and the creators did a great job on these aspects!

On a technical level, there's a lot to appreciate. The use of color, creative camera angles, and strong shot composition are excellent throughout the film! They give the whole thing a surreal atmosphere that can be playful or intense when the film needs. The creators are clearly excellent craftsmen who brought their A-game visually. It's honestly an excellent example of the bold art direction you can only achieve in stop-motion, and I think there's a lot of inspiration here for aspiring animators to learn from.

Unfortunately, the story fizzles out at the end. Way too late in the movie, we're introduced to a generic demon so the film can do a CG finale sequence. The shift from fantastic claymation to janky CG is a huge step down, and the sequence drags on without being very funny or dramatic. I wish they had 1-upped the entire joke of the movie by revealing that there was no demon, and this kid really was just a rotten brat with psychic powers. In a goofy "anything for a joke" movie, a sardonic twist would've been way more appropriate than a clumsy CG showdown.

The awkward ending makes the other flaws stand out. (The priest's complex personal crises, as well as the boy's mother mourning her husband, both get a ton of buildup but are resolved like the flip of a switch. The film spends a lot of time making us hate a corrupt bishop character, then it just gets rid of him in a hasty anticlimax.) It's unfortunate that the film ends on a letdown, because for most of its run, this movie is an extremely well-crafted laugh riot, filled with excellent visuals, top-notch claymation, and extremely creative slapstick gags.

Still, overall this movie is an extremely fun ride. Its one real goal is to entertain you, and it does an admirable job! The finale is a sore spot, but even with that flaw, the film is still a solid 8/10. I highly recommended it to anyone looking for a madcap horror parody or fans of stop-motion animation!