10 Horror Movies You Probably Hated The First Time Round (But Loved The Second)
1. Possession
Oh, where to start with Andrzej Żuławski’s puzzlingly peculiar Possession? Released in 1981, the French/German film has been confusing and fascinating audiences for over 40 years, and for good reason.
Preliminarily, it’s a genuinely believable and evocative – if curiously stagey – examination of a married couple (Sam Neil’s Mark and Isabelle Adjani’s Anna) wrestling with infidelity, divorce, and the shared responsibilities of raising their young son.
From there, it gradually evolves (or devolves, depending on your perspective) into a wholly unusual tour of Żuławski’s surreal symbolism.
We’re talking cannibalism, doppelgangers, graphic homicides, Cronenberg-esque body horror (including Anna having sex with a tentacled creature), and perhaps most famously, a horrifyingly uncomfortable and inexplicable possession scene in a subway.
Clearly, it’s a profoundly challenging and adventurous excursion into avant-garde storytelling that leaves people bewildered and irritated when the credits roll. And yet, they can’t help but return to it a second time (if not more) to fully process and appreciate all of its sociopolitical and interpersonal commentaries, captivating acting, and stylish camerawork.
It's too much to digest in one viewing, but with each subsequent undertaking, Possession reveals itself to be brilliantly audacious and absorbing. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind creation.