The Possession of David O'Reilly (2010)

Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

THE TORMENT is another familiar low budget supernatural horror film, this time with a British slant. The style of the movie is clearly influenced by the likes of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, but the decision to shoot 90% of the scenes in a dark house and the excessive use of shaky cam means that viewers are unable to see or even make out much of what transpires. Before long you won't even care, given that the characters are so unengaging.The narrative is a cheap three-hander in which your boringly average couple are visited in their home by one of the husband's friends. Unfortunately for them he's brought a demon with him, so lots of screaming and running around ensue. If I had found any of this in the least bit frightening I might have enjoyed it more, but as it stands it's all rather dull. The ending is boring in its expected ambiguity, and the acting is rather wobbly, particularly from Francesca Fowler.

I give this movie a 4.5 because at the very least it kept me watching long enough to reassure my "guess" about who the monster(s) really was. I believe David killed his girlfriend Sarah and the demons chasing him were his own guilt manifesting itself.His best-friend fell into his hallucinations only as a best friend could.In the last ten minutes of the movie his best friend's girl begins to realize just how insane David's behavior is when she starts resisting to give into the mass hysteria slowly trying to take over the lot of them by refusing to turn out the light.It was a little annoying for obvious reasons(after reading David's journal neither his best friend or his girlfriend's reaction was believable.....at this point you really have to questions David's sanity just a little more as he is hanging around their house looking like strung out drug addict).Also the best friend and David are running around in most of the movie with knives in the dark so I expected someone to at least get a nick a little earlier on.In closing they show David's best-friend's girlfriend laying on the hallway floor(you can tell by the distinctive tile where she is),with a bloody gut wound. Quite obvious to me it was inflicted by David as she wrestled him to escape.In panic mode I don't believe she knew how mortally wounded she was and kept going until she made it to the hallway and then passed away.I enjoyed this movie because it took very little effort to figure out but still had some "jumpy" parts. I do feel the whole movie/story could have been done as a short and would have been much more effective.

Just after midnight, a young London couple receive a visit from their friend David who appears distraught, telling them that his girlfriend has been unfaithful and needs a place to stay for the night. Sometime after three in the morning, David is left downstairs whilst the others depart. It's only whilst looking in a mirror that David sees something out of the corner of his eye and, as he investigates, he comes face to face with something utterly nightmarish. But this isn't his first encounter with the horrors that lurk in the dark. He's met them before... and now he's brought them with him to his friends' apartment.This low budget British movie from Andrew Cull and Steve Isles has drawn a lot of comparisons to "Paranormal Activity" which is unfair. Whilst there are certain similarities (characters stalked within a building by an unknown horror over a series of nights and the use of POV shots), those similarities are quite superficial. "The Possession Of David O'Reilly" was conceived and shot before "Paranormal Activity", and seems to draw more influence from the works of Clive Barker and George Romero than Oren Peli's 2007 horror movie. This is a movie steeped in a foreboding atmosphere with long silent scenes taking place in virtual darkness, events illuminated only by a single light source – such as a cell phone or the moon through curtains.That's not to say that the movie doesn't have some significant problems. Despite not using the 'lost footage' style of "Paranormal Activity", the directors frequently film scenes from the point of view of one of the three characters. Whilst this does add tension in certain places, it's ultimately overused diluting the intended effect as the movie continues. As with most horror movies, the main characters are also prone to making bad decisions which make their situation worse and this only serves to undermine the story in places. In addition, we are given very little back story about any of the characters and there are some definite pacing issues.What's most frustrating about "The Possession Of David O'Reilly" is that it has the potential to be a lot better than the end product suggests. The make-up effects for the horrific creatures are generally pretty good, and often accompanied with terrific eerie sound effects that heighten the scares. In the main role, Giles Alderson is fantastic; perfectly demonstrating his character's loosening grasp on reality as events unfold. Finally, the story itself succeeds as many times as it fails, and some scenes will definitely make you jump if you're watching the movie in a dark room with no distractions.However, I was left feeling largely ambivalent at the conclusion of "The Possession Of David O'Reilly". Whilst there were glimpses of a great horror movie at times, the absence of information regarding several key story points, and paper-thin characterisation ultimately makes it difficult to recommend. Fans of small, independent horror productions such as "The Blair Witch Project", "Bug" and (in my opinion) the inferior "Paranormal Activity" will most likely enjoy this movie, despite its flaws, and owe it to themselves to take a look in order to make up their own minds. All others should probably tread carefully here, as the decidedly average script and the previously mentioned pacing issues may not compensate for the occasional jump scare in a darkened room when something with half a face appears in a sliver of light.

I was so frustrated whilst watching this. The potential for a fantastic film was all there but it was all let down by the lack of info and the obscure plot.At first I was lead to believe that this was going to be a new improved British version of Paranormal Activity... I was wrong.I was dieing for this film to break forward and become its own film. But instead I was just left wondering WHY!? Why? Why did this happen? Why does that happen? At one point I though a few questions were going to be answered as to why this demon is doing this haunting and this was hinted at but still not made clear. With abstract shots of small dark rooms we're led on a cryptic path where nothing is really explained as to why or how it's happening.