Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'The Possession Experiment'

WRITTEN BY SCOTT EDWARDS

It can be very difficult to know what you should and should not believe about the paranormal, mainly because we don’t know what is real and what is not. It seems like all of the paranormal shows on television are trying their hardest to frighten us instead of showing us what might exist and that is kind of sad. I know that it will not get ratings if there is nothing to show during an investigation, but some of the things that make it on the airwaves drive people to believe that all spirits are demons and looking to kill us. While this might be the correct assumption about demons overall, there might be people out there that want to take their exploration of the paranormal to the next level and while most of them will come out alright, there are some that may be susceptible to a possession, something that rarely happens this day and age.
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Listening to Professor Tucker talk about witchcraft and how it was handled back in the day, Brandon is starting to get an idea what he really wants to do his final project on and is liking the idea of writing about his findings from interviewing people about possessions and exorcisms. Being able to get a couple of books on the subject from the professor and getting pointed in the right direction to a couple of men of the cloth, Brandon is on his way to finding out if possessions are real, or just something made up by the church. 

While digging through his new material, Brandon comes across an exorcism gone wrong a town over and decides to dig into it further. Getting a new partner for his short trek in a stoner named Clay, the two head to the local police station to pick up the old report on what the officers picked up at the scene. Pulling out an old VHS tape that shows the Tracey Crowell Exorcism and people being killed left and right by the possessed mother, Brandon is very intrigued on moving forward with the report and is able to get Clay to come along for the ride of a lifetime. Breaking into the old Crowell house, the two step into the basement where the bloodbath took place and Brandon is drawn towards something he did not expect.  Fining a Ouija Board buried behind a wall with a strange mark on it, the young man has no idea what evil awaits him in his future.

Being willing to invite a demon into his body, Brandon sets up a funding page to get money to support his cause and finds out many people are intrigued to watch the process. Hiring a med student in Leda to measure his vitals during the event and a Medium in Julie to get in touch with those from the other side, the stage is set for the first ever live possession on the internet. Using the basement in the Crowell house once again, everything is set up and people are watching, but after a little shaking and some things being thrown around, Brandon does not feel any different. With negative feedback from his viewers coming his way, along with his mother not willing to talk with him after trying to invite evil into his body, Brandon’s life falls into a tailspin, but is this coincidence or a hidden demon waiting for its time to pounce?

From the first scene of this movie, you should be prepared for a gore fest and while it takes a little break to get the main story going, it is worth it in the end. I liked the relationship between Brandon and Clay to start off their partnership and Clay’s reluctance to having his new friend become possessed by a demon. But when the money comes raining in, well, all bets are off the table and you have got to give the people what they want. Brandon’s mother however really stole the show, not wanting her flesh and blood in the house was great, but her fate was even better. With an exorcism gone wrong, a family falling apart, a demon, a love story, some guns, plenty of blood and a cult looking to carry out their final orders, it is a good possession movie to dive right into. While I may not be that up on possessions these days, there are plenty of cases from the past that seem legit, so who am I to say that keeping a little holy water handy might be a good thing. Stay Scared.    

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