Last night during Joe Bob’s Ghoultide Get-Together, Shudder made a surprise announcement that has the horror community buzzing: Andrzej Żuławski’s cult 1981 horror movie Possession is finally coming to the streaming service. Though originally just the trailer for the film was shown, Shudder’s Head of Programming Sam Zimmerman confirmed the movie was finally coming to the service at the start of the new year. Though a full calendar of what to expect from the service in January of 2023 hasn’t been announced just yet, confirmation that some horror fans can FINALLY see Possession starting in just a few weeks.
Starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, Possession was a commercial failure upon its release but has become a favorite in genre circles dispite being difficult to see. One reason it has been able to proliferate in recent years is thanks to Metrograph, who debuted a 4K restoration last year and has made it available for theatrical screenings and home streaming on their own platform. The distributor’s official description of the movie reads:
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“Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark (Sam Neill) returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani, in a role that earned her Best Actress at Cannes) insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions. With its pulsating score, visceral imagery, and some of the most haunting performances ever captured on screen, Possession is cinematic delirium at its most intoxicating.”
Speaking in an interview with Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review, Neill recalled filming the movie and said: “I call it the most extreme film I’ve ever made, in every possible respect, and he asked of us things I wouldn’t and couldn’t go to now. And I think I only just escaped that film with my sanity barely intact.” Check out the trailer for the film below and look for it to arrive on January 5th.
