The Possession of Michael King

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It would appear that naming a film about demonic possession is as easy as simply finding the next person to be possessed, the template simply being "The Possession of (Insert Name Here). The Possession of Michael King was one of several such titles and followed a man named Michael who was grieving the sudden loss of his wife who died in a freak car accident. As a means of coming to grips with his beloved's death, Michael set off to gain proof of the afterlife in what one can only imagine was a means of gaining satisfactory evidence that his wife endured even after her death, or prove that there is no justification or deeper meaning to our tragedies.

Shot as a found footage film in 2014, Michael would go on to kit himself out with various cameras both on his person and throughout his house in an attempt to catch any substantial evidence of the supernatural and the means upon which he hoped to bring it about. Michael would go on to seek the assistance of anyone claiming to be an expert on the subject matter, from a dying Catholic priest to demonologists and even a mortician, Michael would open himself up to everything and anything, not truly understanding the danger he would be putting himself in.

What was originally just a clear desperate cry for help and merely a means of coming to grips with his tragedy, Michaels activities would spiral out of control and result in an actual possession which would go on to threaten his very sanity, his overall well-being, and the well-being of his sister and daughter. Like anything in life, getting in is always the easy part; the getting out is where it becomes difficult. Michael would find himself in a vicious battle with a malevolent entity hell-bent on destroying everything that he held dear, and while similar films have often had exorcists to provide a helping hand, Michael found himself truly alone in his supernatural conflict.

The film builds at a satisfactory pace, following the typical formula, which gradually breaks audiences into the horror slowly before plunging them deep into the abyss. Michael's tragedy is one that creates a sense of sympathy for a man who never truly wanted what he was asking for, so evident in the manner in which he would attempt to both debunk and rationalize anything that could be classified as paranormal. The real strength of the found footage genre is the effective means of blurring the lines between fact and fiction and is genuinely solid in its ability to create a sinister tone that leaves audiences holding their breath for something to be caught on one of the cameras, anticipation building up to the unexpected scares and the disturbing scenes.

I felt the film was good in its structuring and editing, creating a justified means for recording a person's life, which is always an important aspect of the found footage genre, their simply needs to be a believable scenario that warrants carrying a camera everywhere with you. The slow decline of Michael evoked a feeling of satisfaction from the cinematic point of view, but also a sense of sadness for a man who had lost so much and did not honestly think that his actions could have the consequence that they would eventually have. While the victim of possession takes center stage, another important element is the actual identity of the entity that takes up residence in them. While Pazuzu was the star of the show in The Exorcist, and Emily Rose had an entire demon party inside of her, the entity inside Michael brought something a tad different to the proceedings, even if it still showcased the playfully sadistic characteristics of Pazuzu. The Possession of Michael is a lesson in not scratching in places where it doesn't itch, and while it might not succeed in scaring the hardest of horror enthusiasts, it still felt a lot better in both its angle and execution compared to similar films of the same genre.

The Good

Good angle for the possession theme.
Satisfactory justification for found footage film.
Intriguing supporting cast.
Good structure.

The Bad

Another possession film.
Bad production in places.
A little too surreal and upfront at times.

Is this the kind of film you'd be interested in? Or what were your thoughts on the film as a whole? Let me know in the comments :). Happy viewing.

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Watch:The Possession of Michael King

Score: AA

Out of 10: 7

Photo courtesy of IMDb. Shane Johnson gets a little devilish.

#film #horror #review #movies #possession #cinema

The Possession of Michael King, directed and co-written by David Jung; starring Shane Johnson, Cara Pifko, Michael Ray Escamilla, and Ella Anderson.

I’d been wanting to watch this one for several years after a friend recommended it. Yesterday, I found it streaming for free on the Roku Channel, so I decided to give it a go. It was a gloomy, slightly rainy winter day, the perfect afternoon for watching a good horror movie.

Michael King is a solid if unspectacular entrant to the prolific demonic possession sub-genre of horror. I’m at a loss to explain why it only has a 5.7/10 user rating from the IMDb.

IMHO, it’s a very well-made film, especially for a low-budget, first effort from an unknown director. Maybe viewers are just tired of the whole demonic possession thing.

This film is kind of a hybrid of a found-footage film and a regular film (if you hate found-footage, please note that it’s used very judiciously and effectively here.) Michael King resembles the first Paranormal Activity movie quite a lot—especially the set where most of the action takes place—but it has more going for it, plot wise, than that film. It’s also well-paced, well-edited, and well-acted.

The film starts with clips from a sunny home movie featuring a typical happy family—mother, father, and little girl—having a picnic in a park. Later, we find that the home movie was shot on the very day that the mother (played by Cara Pifko, who also starred in a Paranormal Activity sequel) was accidentally run over and killed by a passing car.

The grieving dad is Michael, the title character, played by Shane Johnson of TV’s Power series. He is, conveniently enough, a successful director of video documentaries.

Michael blames the death of his wife on a psychic who told her to stay home instead of going on a vacation trip with the family. The way he deals with his grief is to make a documentary that exposes the hucksters of the murky, underground occult industry.

In that pursuit, Michael and his cameraman, Jordan (Escamilla of TV's Snowfall series), interview an assortment of very weird people and take part in several bizarre occult rituals, one of which apparently calls up a demon for real. (This segment of the film is fascinating and creepily entertaining.)

Soon, Michael begins hearing strange voices in his head, including a voice that keeps telling him to kill his little daughter, Ellie (Ella Anderson). In short order, Jordan quits the project when Michael’s behavior creeps him out. Michael, in his lucid moments, then sets up cameras all over his house to document his own possession.

Johnson does a very good job portraying Michael’s despair as he battles the demon for possession of his own body. Although much of the demonic activity in this film is something we’ve seen before (body contortions, self-mutilation), there is one super-creepy scene where a demon-possessed Michael drugs his daughter and then molests her while she’s unconscious. This scene is definitely the movie’s kill shot, which I expect will stick with me for a long, long time.

The ending finds us in familiar, cliched territory, as it owes a huge debt to the ending of The Exorcist (1973). I would have preferred a more creative ending. I would have also preferred an innovative title, as I’m pretty sick of generic horror movie titles. There are at least 10 titles in the IMDb that are The Possession of. . . (In the 70s, we had films with titles like The Blood on Satan’s Claw—where did titles like that go?) But all in all, I believe this film is more than a little worth sitting through. I give it a soft 7/10.

The Possession of Michael King

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