The Last Possession Review

PLOT: Soon after Kent Peroni moves his family into his late father’s house, his wife and children start to believe the place is haunted. But there may be something even scarier than ghosts lurking around this home…

REVIEW: Directed by Dan Riddle from a screenplay by Greg Shouse, The Last Possession is the latest variation on a set-up we have seen many times before: a family moves into a house and almost immediately starts experiencing some paranormal activity. In this case, the family is the Peronis; parents Kent (Stephen Brodie) and Stephanie (Cassie Shea Watson), their young son Jack (Sawyer Bell) and their daughter Gabby (Lourelle Jensen).

It’s mentioned that Gabby is adopted, possibly only because the filmmakers wanted to cast Jensen and had to give a reason why she doesn’t look like she would be the biological child of Brodie and Watson. It’s not a big deal, as it shouldn’t be. It’s also mentioned that the only reason Kent is moving his family into this house, which he has inherited from his abusive, alcoholic father, is because they’re having financial issues. This isn’t an unusual aspect for movies like this; it even made me think of Stephen King‘s book Danse Macabre, where he said The Amityville Horror works as well as it does because of its subtext of economic unease. He jokingly suggested that the movie could have been subtitled The Horror of the Shrinking Bank Account – and you could say the same of The Last Possession because Kent makes reference to their lack of money quite frequently. When the family needs to get out of their haunted house and stay in a hotel, he’s worried their credit card will be declined. When help from a mystic is offered, his response is that he can’t pay them. Being plagued by paranormal activity is one thing. Having to deal with ghosts when your cash is dwindling is even worse.

As a haunted house movie, this is really run-of-the-mill. We’ve seen most of this stuff before, and we’ve seen it done better. The cold room, the wrecked furniture, the glimpses of people in the house that shouldn’t be there, someone being tossed around by an invisible force. Riddle and Shouse put in an effort to make their version of this scenario work by presenting the Peronis as realistic, relatable characters. Between scares, they talk not just about financial issues, but also have goofy banter about dress socks, pepperoni farts, and video games. But that doesn’t keep The Last Possession from being underwhelming.

My favorite familiar element reminded me of a movie that wasn’t a ghost story. On the Peronis’ first night in this house, a blast of light leaves a large hole in the back yard, which they cover up with plywood. We’re given reason to believe there’s something in that hole, which made me think of the hole-in-the-yard from the 1987 classic The Gate.

This isn’t just a haunted house movie itself. It’s clear there’s at least one ghost around, as we see Kent’s dead father Roger (Tom Proctor) roaming the property, but there’s something else at play that makes The Last Possession unique… and also disappointing, because a subversion of expectations like this could have been handled much better and should have resulted in something more special than this movie comes off as being. I don’t want to give the twist away, although you can easily figure it out from the marketing materials. A movie with a twist like this could have gotten people talking… but this one is more likely to be met with a shrug.

That said, it’s a serviceable low budget movie that has its good aspects. While some of the acting is weak, some members of the cast do stand out in a very positive way – and here I have to give some attention to Patricia Rae as Granny Inez. The young grandmother to Kent’s gun-toting co-worker Hector (Daniel Escudero), Inez is the mystic mentioned earlier, and when she enters the picture late in the running time she brings a great energy with her. Rae made her a very fun character to watch. Inez also happens to be the character who provides the information some viewers will probably have already figured by the time she confirms it. But from the highs of Granny Inez we go to the lows of an ending I didn’t like at all. I can’t say I had a great time watching this movie, but if you go into it with lowered expectations you might find it to be an okay way to pass some time.

The Last Possession is being released through the Terror Films Channel on March 4th, with a Digital and VOD release following on March 11th.

horror movie reviews

BELOW AVERAGE

5