I watched this movie 3 times and tried to understand wtf is going on, I understands Sam Neill's character is a 'James Bond' type of spy. And I also understand that his wife is tired of being alone and finds a lover (that is debatable) but until you see the 'creature' everything goes weird. What is up with the end and all of the bomb sirens and everything going to hell?

What this film suffers agonizingly from, is over wrought angst filled dialog and screaming ad nauseum. The story is great, the script, most specifically the dialog, is dreadful. How many times can you watch actors pontificate over their miserable lives?
For those that have the high and mighty attitude that one must be "enlightened" to "get" this film, you are off your nut. I've seen and enjoyed scores of truly artful films that were of the esoteric variety. The problem here is that you have a scream-fest of two people in a failed marriage and it's just plain tiresome.
I saw this in the theatre in 1981 and had memories of it being strange so I bought the DVD when it came out about 6 or so years ago. I watched when I bought it, and wondered what the heck I remembered. I watched it again last night, and while there are very disturbing moments and some highly nihilistic scenes, it remains difficult to watch because of sheer boredom during long stretches of the same old beep again and again.
Adjani is a beautiful woman and a fine actress, but I wanted to smack her into unconciousness if I had to listen to her scream anymore.
Try Polanski's REPULSION if you are looking for a woman's trip into madness. In fact I wish Dear Roman had gotten his hands on this script and did the story justice.

i loved possession.
and i found it to be totally scary.

This film is superb.
My impression from the thread-creator's review is that he/she did not watch the entire film: "and so bad that I turned off the video"
Do not post a review unless you have watched the entire film. This thread is absolutely pathetic, and HALLSTEN should be very embarrassed at his display of idiocy.

Testify! Agreed.
I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday i ate it.

Yes, this movie will not be found very good for the idiotic Michael Bay mindless brainless fanboy crowd. For those that actually like cinema and don't mind a bit of a mind challenge one and a while, this movie has much to entertain.
And the OP, i'm sure he likes The Shining for the wrong reasons! This type of people typically do. They like good movies by mistake.
"This are Nice shoes! Couldn't you afford some real Nike?"

I just saw it again yesterday and I love it as much as the first time. It's a difficult movie, sure, but personally that's how I like my movies. Challenging, mentally exhausting but extremely fulfilling. Adjani went very far with her role and I'm not surprised one bit she didn't came out unscathed. One of my all-time faves. The washed-out colors of the whole thing make for an eerie, yet recognisable scenery.

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just purchased the dvd and it rocks!
this movie is great, Isabelle Adjani besides being the most sensual and sweetest woman on earth, scared the fffff out of me during the metro station scene when she started getting "possessed". wow!
superb movie.

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.Thanks for the link ( what a great site! ). I'd definitely consider it just for the commentary.

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.It's the Anchor Bay 2000 VHS widescreen clamshell release. It clocks in at 123 min.
Picked it up for $5. You're right, the DVD is out of print. People are asking $40 at amazon.com

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.I'm just now waiting for the uncut release I bought at Half.com.. I picked up the old VESTRON 80min. version
at a Video store liquidation. Andrzej Zulawski must have been greatly relieved to get that out of his system when
he finished that film.

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that's insane , the shining may be overrated but it is not boring by any stretch of the imagination

shining is one of the most boring thing i saw in my life and i am polite here never looked it until the end possession is one of my favourite movie. It's not about frightening it's about atmospher i think that you didn't catch it, but stop saying stupidities

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"I can assure you, it would cripple, paralyze, and traumatize any normal human being for life"
Did anyone read that? We must send a copy of this picture to every noraml person in the world. Thank you metaspheres (if that is your real name), if not for you me may never have found their weakness!

This is one of my favorite movies ever made! I think if a movie can affect people in the way "metashperes" describes it, it is suceeding in accomplishing something that many movies lack, an absorbing/involving experience. I think by not blatantly spelling things out it causes the viewer to have to actively think and process some of the issues being explored which in effect causes the viewer to be more involved and invested in the film. This allows a viewer like metaspheres to react the way they did and is a testament to the excellent quality of this movie. I wish this movie was more readily available for viewing. I think Anchor Bay did a limited run on it but it is hard to find the uncut version for less than $50 any more. I hope people give this movie a chance and aren't thrown off by the negative comments.

"The film should definitely have a warning because it is probably the most visually and emotionally obscene film that has ever been unleashed on this unsuspecting world. It is volatile, repugnant, blasphemous, sickening, and pornographic."
I'm happy that this movie apparently made you so miserable. ^_^ However, i think you're wrong in judging it as something vile. It's a very relevant film for the same reasons you dislike it. The director must have endured a terrible, terrible experience to bring something so bizarre to life; it's a sincere expression from his soul, and he is not afraid to explore the undesirable and the unknown. It's obvious to me he's a man who understands himself as best he can, and through Possession he's laid bare who and what he is.
This film is a near-masterpiece, if not a certified one.
If you thought this film was vile, then what do you think of films like Cannibal Holocaust, I Spit On Your Grave and The New York Ripper?
"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven if they can make it through Hell!" -Los Hijos Del Topo

by the way, I loved this film.

I strongly disagree. Just because someone hates this movie doesn't make them stupid. You will find no shortage of intellectual heavyweights who absolutely despise this film and who will never go near it again even though they have only seen it once.
The film should definitely have a warning because it is probably the most visually and emotionally obscene film that has ever been unleashed on this unsuspecting world. It is volatile, repugnant, blasphemous, sickening, and pornographic.
I cannot imagine any sane person of healthy mind and spirit actually enjoying this monstrosity. If one wanted a preview of what hell surely must be like, this film would fill that role excellently, and to be certain, the ultimate form of torture, far worse than any lifetime experience in a miserable SuperMax prison, would be a forced, mandatory twenty-four hour screening of this film in a theater.
That very experience alone, I can assure you, would cripple, paralyze, and traumatize any normal human being for life, both physically and mentally. If you hated and despised someone and wished to do them the most severe and unadulterated harm, you would give this film to them as a gift, for most certainly they would walk away deranged and mentally incompetent and unable to function as normal human beings ever again.
It is a godless film devoid of all humanity and is nothing short of a purely visceral ravaging of the post-modern soul. It is the product of a sick mind who produced it for a sick audience.
In short, this film is insanity.