Reviewed by Allie Schembra
Imagine an insatiable demon that feeds on blood, thrives on pain, and reaches from beyond the grave to torment the living… and the dead. For believers and skeptics alike, there is nothing in this world or the next to rival the relentless evil of a Voodoo Possession. Burdened since childhood with a gnawing sense of guilt, cynical Aiden Chase journeys to a Haitian insane asylum in search of his missing brother. Upon arriving, he discovers all the inmates and the hospital administrator (Danny Trejo, Machete) are seemingly possessed by a bloodthirsty voodoo spirit. Now, Aiden must abandon reality and descend into a terrifying spirit world to try to rescue his brother - or they will both be damned for eternity.
Film (1 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Aiden, an out of work 20-something has a secret… and a missing brother. Cody, a doctor who traveled to Haiti to help out after the 2010 earthquake disappears while working in a mental hospital. Aiden, his ex-girlfriend Bree, and a camera crew from a TMZ-like television show, travel to Haiti on the pretense of filming a story, when in reality, Aiden and Bree are there to find Cody. Strange things happen in the mental hospital and it turns out, Cody was using voodoo as a method when trying to help the patients in the hospital. His assistant, Kross (Danny Trejo, Machete), at first objects to the process, then also disappears.
When Aiden, Bree and the others begin researching, they find that the lines between worlds are more easily crossed than ever imagined. When Aiden calls upon a voodoo priest (witch doctor) to help the group cross into the spirit world, Aiden is forced to relive his deepest secrets and worst memories in order to save his brother.
I don’t know how to feel about this movie. I didn’t hate it. There were times when I sat on the couch thinking “what the heck am I watching?” but at times, there was some semblance of a story and it kind of made sense. I was disappointed in Danny Trejo, who received top billing, yet was in the movie for all of eight minutes. The movie seemed more suited to a SyFy Channel Saturday night horror flick, than something that should have even been a straight-to-video release. The acting was high school drama class acting and the story was choppy and confusing. I like cheesy horror movies, but this was almost too cheesy.
Video (3 out of 5 stars)
Despite the terribleness of the storyline, the picture was pretty good. Voodoo Possession is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and was very clear. The colors were bright when required and the blacks were consistent. The shadows blended, but were not hard to discern. 99% of the movie was filmed inside and the few seconds shown outside of the mental hospital were mostly night shots and were too blue.
Audio (3 out of 5 stars)
Presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital with closed captioning for the hearing impaired, the sound in Voodoo Possession is good. The background music was telling… you’d know when something was about to happen, and nothing seemed out of place. Voices were natural and were easily heard, even the unintelligible mumblings were loud enough to hear.
Extras (1/2 out of 5 stars)
I was disappointed in the lack of special features on this DVD. The only extra was a 12 minute behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew interviews.
Summary (2 out of 5 stars)
Voodoo Possession was a terrible movie that I kind of liked. The terrible acting, the bad story all played on my like for terrible horror movies. It wasn’t very scary, but that’s okay. For a first-time writing and directing effort, Walter Boholst did a decent job and I hope he keeps making movies because they will only get better. I would watch more of them.
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