Highly anticipated horror film, “The Possession,” was released this past Friday and grossed 17.7 million over the weekend. Based on a true story, the movie is about a girl who becomes possessed by an evil spirit after opening a box. Though the film’s trailer made the movie out to have the thrilling and horrifying element of demonic possessions, it turned out to be a cheap rip off of the 1973 classic “the Exorcist.”

“Possession” opens with a demonic spirit inside a Jewish box assaulting an elderly woman. Although the scene initially builds suspense with fear of the box, the woman’s movements and jerking come across as unrealistic and comedic. Unfortunately, that fruitless attempt of a petrifying attack is used twice in the film. The film creates suspense higher than the actual scare.

A large portion of the film is predictable and unrealistic. The parents, one of whom is “The Closer’s” Kyra Sedgwick, are completely oblivious to their child’s possession until the final stages, despite her completely erratic behavior. The girl is vegan, but raids the refrigerator for raw red meat after her possession. She also becomes obsessed with the evil box and violently beats one of her classmates after he takes it away from her. The ordinarily happy, well-behaved child turns gloomy and disorderly, but her parents blame it on their divorce.

The film echoes “The Exorcist” with its climax and highlighted events, except “Possession” has a Jewish instead of a Catholic angle.

I give the film a C- due to its failure to deliver a powerful scare. The music, side effects, and actors do a great job setting the scene but the director just fails to give the petrifying scare it sets the audience up for.

• Courtney Matthews, Asst. Online Editor