Possessed (1999)

Strong and Moving!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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

'Besat' has (horror film) atmosphere in spades. The lighting is beautiful (= eerie) and makes the film stand out. The story may be riddled with clichés about the devil and the end of times, still it has a way to it, that I could call Scandinavian, though it may be better described as nót Hollywoodian; for instance, the fact that the main character is willing to do pretty much anything to further his career (up to the point where he digs up the corpse of a boy for a spinal tap, even if we, the viewers, know that the fate of the world is at stake as well). It helps creating a gritty world, full of true to life characters, even if some ingredients are rooted in the supernatural. The love story between the main character, a professor, and his student, is well interwoven with the plot of satanic mayhem. Yes, this is a little late-'90s horror gem.A big 8 out of 10.

This is another horror movie in the Danish tradition, as I like to put it: Good cast, good plot and in my opinion quite an original twist to the classic possessed-by-the-devil plot. Also a hint of drama, with well-written dialogue and interesting inter-character relations and intrigues.If it runs on TV, see it by all means! Some chilly moments, that's for sure.7 out of 10.

A man shows up in airport, dead of symptoms distressingly similar to Ebola, or something much worse. What begins as a search for answers becomes a race to stop what could be a global plague. There are some very creepy scenes in Romanian morgues, and the ending is particularly suspenseful.

With a plot that seems to have been heavily inspired by productions such as Warlock (1989), Outbreak (1995) and "Riget" (1994), this movie uses the Danish medical community as exemplified by the National Hospital to build an instant atmosphere of impending doom.Unlike "Riget", which featured a plot that ended up in a Twin Peaks-like parody of surrealism, the focus in this movie is not on the medical community itself, but on the investigation by a young doctor of the mystical spread of a strange new virus.In parallel with this activity we have the police pursuing a man suspected of arson (impressingly performed by Udo Kier).The two threads end up colliding in a way that will not be revealed here.The movie contains some interesting scenes from Romania, where the young doctor tries to collect a marrow sample to analyse the virus. These scenes are quite important in building the atmosphere so important for a thriller, and they are executed nicely.Basically, all horror movies reiterate the same old message of "how terrible it is, when you're powerless." The interesting new part is usually the way in which ingredients are mixed, conveying a story full of scares, to which the contemporary viewer can relate."Besat" is no exception from this rule: As a true child of it's time, the dominant themes used in this movie are the threat of a global epidemic, cultic prophecies of apocalypse, the horrible living conditions of the poor in Eastern Europe, and how a man's single-minded pursuit of his career can turn him into a monster.All in all some good, well-executed entertainment, but don't expect to find anything new here.