Video Nasty #18: Possession

Synopsis: After working away from home for a mysterious organisation Mark returns to Berlin to find his marriage in ruin. Whilst trying to salvage his relationship with his wife Anna, Mark makes some startling discoveries. Aside from his wife's affair with Heimrich, a new age martial artist, she's also having sexual relations with a man-eating tentacled thing.

Possession's appearance on the DPP list is something of an anomaly, like funny dialog in a Rob Schneider movie or Stevie Wonder playing a BNP fundraiser. The film doesn't belong, and as such provided a welcome break from the mostly low-budget exploitation of the previous 17 films. One its most appealing aspects is that it's difficult to pigeon hole. The first third of the film is a miserable relationship drama, with very little respite from the couple shrieking at each other. Once Mark dispatches a private detective to follow Anna the film enters horror territory; the detective and his partner being killed by Anna and fed to a slimy octopus like beast in a run down apartment. After more shrieking it is hinted that the entity isn't a monster but a malevolent manifestation of the hurt caused by the emotional breakdown, the incarnate loss of hope and faith. The remainder of the film enters typical Lynch territory, disregarding any semblance of a linear or sensical story in favour of emotional and surreal vignettes.


There are large chunks of the film that are dull, which isn't helped by the deliberate overacting of the two leads. Whilst Isabelle Adjani's (Anna) break down remains convincing Sam Neill (Mark) pushes it a little too far, becomes a melodramatic caricature, so emotionally and physically intense I spent most of the film waiting for his eyeballs to pop out under the pressure. In parts the dialog is wonderfully cryptic and philosophical, but it's mostly incoherent rambling. I think the leads are intentionally unlikeable, wallowing in self pity and sixth form philosophy whilst the most important thing in their life, their young child, is suffering.

Despite the individual scenes never quite coming together as an enjoyable whole, the film does have some great moments. The design of 'monster' is outstanding. Like The Thing, the 25 year old puppetry trumps anything computer generated. Nothing is more of a testament to this then the scene of Anna making love to the undeveloped entity. It's a scene that could of easily looked ridiculous but was actually skin crawlingly creepy. Another stand out scene follows Anna in a subway station having a complete mental and physical breakdown. For minutes she smashes her body against the wall, finally kneeling on the floor with milk and blood poring out of her head. It makes no sense, but it's horrifying.


I'll concede that i'm sure there are themes and ideas in the movie that i could only begin to comprehend after multiple viewings. I'm sure there is significance to the characters living next to the Berlin wall, and Mark's mysterious government job is clearly linked with the entity somehow (oddly, the clue to this is pink socks).

I don't have a problem with the non-traditional, avant-garde nature of the film. I really love Mulholland Drive, a film which, much like Possession, starts as a linear understandable piece and after 40 minutes suddenly shifts into incoherence for the remainder, as if the director suddenly had a massive mental breakdown,. Unfortunately, Possession is too flawed to keep my attention, especially over the seemingly unending 123 minute runtime. Possession is a film that, despite its many flaws, has to respected for the fact it doesn't conform and does something truly different. Also, this is the only film i've seen where someone is killed using just a shoe, feather and a toilet boll? (answers on the back of a postcard)