Voodoo Possession (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Starring Ryan Caltagirone, David Thomas Jenkins, Kerry Knuppe, Danny Trejo… sort of
Directed by Walter Boholst
Distributed by Image Entertainment
We don’t know about you guys, but we’re pretty sick of seeing Danny Trejo’s name set prominently over the titles of movies he’s actually only in for a couple of minutes. The latest flick to do so is Walter Boholst’s Voodoo Possession, which earns itself the dubious distinction of being quite possibly the dullest movie about voodoo ever created. More on that in a minute. First the plot crunch… such as it is.
In a nutshell Aiden Chase (Ryan Caltagirone) finds out this his brother, Cody (David Thomas; no relation to deceased fast food kingpin of the same name), has gone missing from the Haitian mental asylum that he’s in charge of. Good thing that Aiden’s overly concerned TV producer ex-girlfriend, Bree (Kerry Knuppe), is there to convince him to join her and her film crew as they journey to Haiti to find his sibling. Their cover? Being documentary filmmakers. Hey, it worked for Argo, right?
As it turns out, Cody was using voodoo to treat his patients, and now said patients are all possessed. From there Aiden must enter the spirit world to save Cody. Or something like that. None of it makes much sense really, and for the rest of the flick we’re treated to bad family “memories” and a whole lot of explanatory exposition about every 15 minutes or so.
Heading up 10 minutes of this sleep aid of a film is Danny Trejo who appears only as a pre-shot video. Simply put, Trejo sits at a table and reads aloud from a book about voodoo. Yep, that’s it. You cannot knock Trejo as he’s an actor with a job to do, but for the love of god can the folks behind the marketing of these flicks stop pulling the old bait and switch on fans already? This is like the fourth film in a row to have Trejo’s name emblazoned across the cover only to feature him for minutes at best. Enough is enough. Keep this up and Trejo’s name will soon become a deterrent instead of a marketing asset.
Voodoo Possession has no real scares, shocks, or noteworthy performances. Even Trejo sounds stilted and out of place. It’s a horror flick without the horror. Walter Boholst tried to make the movie headsy but instead delivers a confusing and ultimately dull and painful experience. All the exposition in the world could not explain the nonsensical storyline. The only real reason to watch this flick is for the unintentional humor which pops up here and there, but this isn’t even a so bad it’s good type experience.
In terms of special features we get a quick and quite standard behind-the-scenes featurette in which Boholst compares his film to Inception of all things. Really? Really.
Want to see something good that’s voodoo related? Check out “American Horror Story: Coven” or Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow. The only thing Voodoo Possession delivers is regret that you just spent time watching it.
Really… the director compared this to Inception!
Special Features
1 out of 5
1/2 out of 5
Categorized:Reviews
