Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Possession Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 28, 2020

Possession relies on what almost might be described as Russian nesting doll conceits. The basic set up here is that a young wife (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is distressed when her husband is left comatose after a serious car accident. Making things even more trying is the fact that the accident was with her husband's ne'er-do-well brother, who is also left in a coma. When the brother-in-law awakens, he claims to be the husband. What's a wife to do? OK, it's not the most ridiculous setup for a psychologically tinged horror film, and yet it relies on an almost insane number of coincidences. The film tries to ply a kind of ambiguity as to whether the brother-in-law is really "possessed" by his brother's spirit, or if he's just scamming his sister-in-law, and yet there's an underlying question that the film never even gets into: what's going to happen if and when the husband recovers? Logic like that is basically absent in this film, as evidenced by two more unlikely aspects: the crash itself, which is beyond contrived, and the fact that both men end up sprawled on the pavement outside of their vehicles, where their blood "magically" intertwines.

Possession was released on Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox over a decade (!) ago. Those wanting a complete plot recap are encouraged to read Casey Broadwater's Possession Blu-ray review of that version. Casey's review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons. It looks like the supplemental package is more or less identical between the two releases, though the trailer on this release is in high definition.

Possession Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Possession is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Other than a perhaps very slight increase in brightness in the MVD version, this looks identical to me to the 20th Century Fox release, though that said, as I so often repeat when I re-review a release one of my colleagues has already written about, different reviewers frequently means different opinions, and I was somewhat more favorably disposed toward this presentation than Casey evidently was. The palette is kind of drab and autumnal at times, but there are some significant pops of color scattered throughout, and overall when not intentionally skewed things look natural and rather nicely suffused. Detail levels are also often very expressive, even in some of the film's "artier" moments.

Possession Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the video element, I was evidently a bit more favorably inclined toward the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track than Casey was with the audio on the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray release, but that said, this release also features an LPCM 2.0 version of the soundtrack, so my score probably would have been upped from Casey's in any case. Surround activity here does tend to ebb and flow, but some of the ambient environmental effects, notably the rain that Casey also mentioned in his review, offer some nice immersive tendencies. Startle effects are used to admittedly cliché ridden ends, but reverberate with sufficient force to, well, startle. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.

Possession Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes Featurette (480i; 3:35)


• Deleted and Alternate Scenes (480i; 32:58) features a handful of snippets and then a rather long (around a half hour) Alternate Ending.


• Trailers includes Possession (1080p; 2:25) along with trailers for other releases from the MVD Marquee Collection.

Additionally, this release features reversible cover artwork. The reverse side offers the original image on the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray release.

Possession Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The fact that this film evidently had a completely different third act in play (as evidenced by the more or less half hour long "Alternate Ending" included on this release as a supplement) may give credence to the impression that Possession was being tweaked even as it was being shot. There are some interesting elements here, but the film never really exploits the potential of its probably patently silly premise. This release offers solid technical merits and the same supplements as the prior Blu-ray release from 20th Century Fox, for those who are considering a purchase.