Contains
spoilers for Ava's Possessions and February (aka The Blackcoat's
Daughter)
Demonic
possession is one of the big horror plots. It's not quite up there
with haunted houses or vampires or (yawn) zombies, but there are
quite a few out there. And they almost all rip off the foul language
and green bile spewing mother of them all, The Exorcist.
It's
easy to see why. William Friedkin's film was unlike anything which
came before and possesses (heh!) thematic depths which reward repeat
viewing. It's beautifully written and brilliantly acted, leading it
to be the first horror film to nominated for several Academy awards.
Despite several key scenes being parodied into memetic status and
some cheap looking effects shots, it still casts a chilly spell over
the viewer and remains a masterpiece. (As a side note, I watched it
again recently and this time I was taken by how bloody tense and
unnerving the opening scenes in Iraq are).
Demonic
possession films can also be relatively cheap to make, only needing a
bit of make up on your victim and have them snarl, talk in Latin or
use a glut of salty language. If you have a bit more budget then you
can go for the levitating, head twisting, spider walking and
projectile vomiting. Dress someone as a priest and get them to make
with the holy water and the “the power of Christ compels you”
stuff and you have yourself a film.
Very
probably a rubbish film. A lot of possession flicks are just basic
Exorcist rip offs with very little to recommend them. They bring
nothing new to the table (unless you just make it a found footage
film and forget to add an actual ending. Oh hi The Devil Inside) and
forget the things that still make Friedkin's film so memorable.
Which
is why Ava's Possessions and February are such nice, refreshing
surprises. They are very different films, with one being
significantly better than the other, but both do something new with
the formula.
In
the case of Jordan Galland's Ava's Possessions, the difference is
entirely in the plot. The film starts with the titular heroine being
exorcised, then follows her as she tries to put her life back
together in the aftermath. She has (or believes that she has)
committed a lot of terrible things while under the influence of her
demon, causing emotional and physical damage to those around her. She
is also facing potential jail time for her actions, unless she
attends a rehabilitation group for formally possessed people. Also
her family are acting a bit odd and there's a shit ton of blood in
her apartment, implying that she killed someone.
Things
get convoluted and the plot unravels a little towards the end.
There's also a pretty major plot hole. If demonic possession is an
accepted thing and as common in this universe as implied, then why is
Ava being held responsible for her actions to the extent that she
might go to jail? The obvious metaphor for drug addiction is a bit
overdone, but it makes a change for usual metaphor, which usually
about puberty (the Exorcist again) or sexuality. However, it's a
nicely acted, fresh take on the usual tropes with a couple of nice
scares and some laughs to be had.
Much
better is Oz Perkins' February, which hits a lot of the usual plot
beats but deviates from the norm in terms of form and technique. In
this it is similar to the director's subsequent film I Am The Pretty
Thing That Lives In The House, which seriously messed around with the
haunted house story. While February isn't as odd as that film, it is
definitely better.
We
follow two plot strands and I'm probably not shocking anyone by
revealing that they eventually intertwine. In one, two pupils of a
Catholic boarding school (Kat and Rose) are forced to stay for the
start of vacation when their parents fail to pick them up. In
another, a mysterious young woman (Joan) accepts a lift with a couple
who are driving to the town where said boarding school is based. The
husband frequently tells Joan that she reminds him of their daughter,
some she seems to find amusing.
One
of these young woman is possessed. You can tell by the weird way she
contorts her body, worships the boiler in the school basement and
drops a major C-bomb. Oh and her habit of stabbing people right up.
The possession goes along the usual horror film lines, with one
difference: she very much wishes to remain possessed and is visibly
distraught to be left on her own again (actually a plot point it
shares with a side character in Ava's Possessions, though again that
was about drug addiction while this is about loneliness and
alienation).
So
yeah, standard “the devil made me do it” stuff, but it's lifted
by Perkins' brilliant direction. This is a film where everything
seems a little bit “off” somehow. All of the characters act in a
strange way, even the ones who don't have a supernatural back seat
driver. He does my current favourite horror trick of holding shots
longer than necessary to create unease. The normal narrative
connective tissue is trimmed away and chronology is played with,
leading to disorientation (he did this to great effect in ...Pretty
Thing... but this is in service of a better film). It's utterly
chilling, and not just because of the loving shots of abandoned,
wintry places.
I
watched February a couple of weeks ago and I'm still thinking about
it. With this and his divisive (to say the least) sophomore effort,
Perkins is showing himself to be the most exciting new director in
horror, at least for those of us like it a bit more thoughtful. For
me, he has made the only demonic possession film that is anywhere
near to matching the profane glory of The Exorcist, though Ava's
Possessions also gives me hope that other way of telling this story
can be found.
