The movie begins by warning audiences that the film’s events take place over a 29-day period. What it should have said is the film feels like it lasts 29-days. The Possession is a stereotypical take on the tried-and-true “innocent girl gets her body hijacked by demons” story that doesn’t give the genre anything new, but a lot of the same. And even that’s not done all that well.  Hit the jump for our review of The Possession on Blu-ray.

Director John McNaughton’s last feature-length film Wild Things included the fantastic cinematic achievement of having Neve Campbell and Denise Richards make out on screen. Now he’s back after more than a decade to helm the psychological thriller, The Harvest. Written by Stephen Lancellotti, The Harvest centers on a married couple (Michael Shannon and Samantha Morton) with a background in the medical profession who keep their clinically ill son (Charlie Tahan) secluded in a controlled environment. When a young girl (Natasha Calis) moves in next door, her arrival gives the boy hope for a better life, but unravels the overprotective parents’ strictly regulated world. Hit the jump for more, including word from the director himself on why he chose this project.

Ultimately The Possession lives and dies on the relationship between its two leads: Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Natasha Calis. As Clyde and his youngest daughter Em, the twosome’s bond forms the backbone of the film. Clyde, has for all intensive purposes, completely screwed up his relationship with wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) and eldest daughter Hannah. The one person who looks or treats him with any sense of fondness is his youngest daughter, Em and Clyde is intent on keeping this so. So imagine his chagrin – when Em gets taken over by an evil Jewish demon in a box and begins to violently distance herself from him. Clyde is then forced to result to increasingly elaborate and dangerous means to bring his daughter back and repair their fractured relationship.

In the following interview with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Natasha Calis, the twosome discuss the strange ‘supernatural’ occurrences that happened on set, why they never want to be near a dibbuk bok and Calis’s two-sided (girl + demon) performance. For the full interview, hit the jump.

Check out our round-up of the latest posters below:

• Resident Evil: Retribution – The fifth installment of the Resident Evil franchise from director Paul W.S. Anderson stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Boris Kodjoe, Johann Urb, Kevin Durand and Bingbing Li.  Resident Evil: Retribution opens September 14th.
• The Possession – From producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) director Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch) comes this horror film based on real life events.  The Possession, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Davenport and Natasha Calis opens August 31st.
• The Babymakers – The heist/adventure/comedy directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers) stars Olivia Munn, Paul Schneider, Noureen DeWulf and Aisha Tyler. The Babymakers opens August 3rd.

Hit the jump to check out the new posters and synopses.

We’ve got some new posters for you today with all sorts of genre confusion.  Here are the movies in brief:

• The Possession, a horror-thriller from director Ole Bornedal that stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick and Natasha Calis.  The film opens August 31st.
• Trishna, from director Michael Winterbottom, stars Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed in an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles.”
• Grassroots, a policitcal comedy/drama from director Stephen Gyllenhaal, stars Cobie Smulders, Jason Biggs and Joel David Moore.

Hit the jump to check out the new posters.

The first trailer for the horror film The Possession has gone online. Produced by Sam Raimi, the film centers on a young girl who acquires an antique box at a yard sale, but she’s unaware that the box contains an evil spirit.  First of all, if you haven’t been creeped out by the poster yet, take a look here. As for the trailer, let me just say that the film earns positive marks for not following in the found footage genre’s footsteps.  The Possession trailer actually plays more like an homage to classic horror films like The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and Poltergeist rather than any major horror film that’s been produced within the past ten years.  It’s also refreshing to see an exploration of the darker side of  Jewish folklore (the original film was titled The Dibbuk Box) rather than a rehashing of Catholic mythos.  Director Ole Bornedal may well have found a combination of a respectable method of shooting and a capable cast that can restore some faith in the horror genre.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, and Natasha Calis.  The Possession opens on August 31st.

One of the films that will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this September is Daydream Nation, from writer/director Michael Goldblach.  Kat Dennings, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell, and Natasha Calis star in the coming-of-age story in which a teenage girl (Dennings) moves to a rural town (currently plagued by a serial killer) and sparks up an affair with a teacher (Lucas).  Check out the trailer after the jump.