Movie:'The Possession' Based on a true story!

[None of the above]

First I want to say that I like Sam Rami, so I'm not attempting to have a 'dig' at what I'm expecting to be a great bit of camp-horror in the tradition of 'Drag me to hell' and 'The evil dead'.

Anyway, for those people who haven't turned their TV's on recently so might have missed the huge pre-release campaign for this movie, here is the IMDB page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431021/

Now it's a well trodden path to claim that horror movies are inspired by 'real events' or based on a 'true story' and I always wonder if there is any grain of truth in those claims or if it's just a "Blair Witch Project" type internet campaign.

Now if you scroll down the IMDB page, you'll see the FAQ asks: "Is this movie based on a true story?"

The answer is apparently YES.

"Yes. It is based on the true story of the Dybbuk Box, a wine cabinet which is said to be haunted by a dybbuk. It had belonged to a Polish Holocaust survivor named Havela, who had escaped to Spain and purchased it there before emigrating to the United States. (etc)"

So, if you dig a little further you'll find a post from IMDB user: the-j129

entitled: "The Ebay listing that started it all"

Where he simply has the following link:

http://web.archive.org/web/20051105000557/www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rubyc/eBay_dibbuk.htm

So do a little digging into the supposed buyer and seller. I'll be back in a bit

[notoverrated]

wait so there is a haunted cabinet?

[Gary Meadows]

I love Sam Rami, unfortunately besides paying for it and attaching his name, he will have very little to do with this movie.

However I am really looking forward to seeing it. Love a good scary movie.

[Idano]

They suggest putting a story with your item on ebay (seller seminar) but WOW what a story. I have this shoe box.......

[None of the above]

Hi guys.

Back again.

Right, so if we look at the auction details.

Here's the box in question:

Winning bidder (buyer) ID: agetron

Winning bid: US $280.00

Ended: Feb-09-04 15:05:59 PST

History: 51 bids (US $1.00 starting bid)

Winning bidder: agetron

Location: Missouri United States /St. Louis

So let's have a look at this ebayer:

http://myworld.ebay.com/agetron

Member since: Dec-28-98

Location: United States

Seems to fit?

Lets have a look at his feedback from Feb 2004: http://feedback.ebay...&mPg=25&page=18

Nothing seems to fit there for item 3701347648. Nothing from the supposed seller, eBay user: spasmolytic

So let's have a look at feedback left by him around then: http://feedback.ebay...&mPg=28&page=21

Well there it is, correct item number 3701347648, user no longer registered: 1443503@deleted

"Hand delivered the next day. The Dibbuk Box was in perfect shape. AA++"

So assuming that this user was ID: spasmolytic then was de-registered at least the auction seems to have been genuine but the seller didn't trade much on eBay after this transaction.

Here's his ID page: http://feedback.ebay...lFeedback&rt=nc

His name seems to have been reissued and deregistered again, but not tied to this auction: http://myworld.ebay.com/spasmolytic

Edited August 29, 2012 by Atlantia

[Q-C]

It sounds like a Jewish Exorcist. I do like Kyra Sedgwick so might be worth a look.

[None of the above]

There are a couple of other avenues of investigation.

I'm not saying I believe any of this, but at least it doesn't seem to be a totally invented publicity campaign and that makes me wonder why not make up a better version using this idea as the basis?

Anyway, I thought you lot might enjoy a story so I've spent a couple hours on it already. If you like it you know where the button is

Then I might try and dig a little deeper.

Makes a change from my usual heavy serious discussions in the politics sections anyway!

Edited August 29, 2012 by Atlantia

[Brian Topp]

Wheres my post where I said that this is going to be over hyped and we going to have new *members* coming in saying the same story except it happened to "them".

Also there is a movie, which I link that was made by the crew twilight about man who works at a construction yard and he finds a box with a mirror inside (i think it had a rocking horse) and brings it home and his daughter gets "haunted".

Edited August 29, 2012 by Brian Topp

[rashore]

Rock on Atlantia, I love it when someone digs into the source material behind a story... Well done

[None of the above]

As with all of these net inspired tales, it seems to grow the more you look into it.

A quick google of Dibbuk Box reveals lots of interesting references.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dybbuk_box

[None of the above]

Rock on Atlantia, I love it when someone digs into the source material behind a story... Well done

Hi Rashore,

Thank you.

It's just a bit of fun. I like proper horror movies. So this looks right up my alley. I'm not a fan of the whole recent blood and guts 'Saw' type movies and the like, I prefer them to be about demons and the paranormal.

I've sent a message through eBay to the buyer of the box in the auction to ask if they wish to confirm if it IS the box that inspired the movie and if they could confirm any unusual happenings etc?

I'll of course let you know if they reply, but I guess I'm not going to be the only person messaging them

Dybbuk (In Yiddish: דיבוק from Hebrew adhere or cling) is a malicious or malevolent possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person

Edited August 29, 2012 by Atlantia

[None of the above]

Here's an interesting page about Dybbuk and possession in Jewish folklore:

http://www.ghostvillage.com/legends/2003/legends32_11292003.shtml

[None of the above]

Have recieved a reply from the chap who bought the box in that ebay auction. Here it is verbatim apart from his name which I remove out of curtosy because he included his full name.

The Dibbuk Box artifact is going to be a LIONSGATE movie called The Possession and comes out next Friday.

It is in an acacia ark surrounded in gold - and has been pretty calm for the last 4 years.

Go to the website and you can see it - press click button - lower right corner of homepage - dibbuk box website.

Link: www.dibukbox.com

Best regards,

***************

Here are some details for your research on the topic:

Dibbuk Box Website: www.dibbukbox.com

Book produced by the Truman University Press: http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemId=453

The Possession movie trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431021/

Truman student Jeff Denight article: http://blogs.truman.edu/tsup/2012/08/17/the-dibbuk-box-jason-haxton-on-writing-his-story/

Edited August 29, 2012 by Atlantia

[Imaginarynumber1]

Have recieved a reply from the chap who bought the box in that ebay auction. Here it is verbatim apart from his name which I remove out of curtosy because he included his full name.

The Dibbuk Box artifact is going to be a LIONSGATE movie called The Possession and comes out next Friday.

It is in an acacia ark surrounded in gold - and has been pretty calm for the last 4 years.

Go to the website and you can see it - press click button - lower right corner of homepage - dibbuk box website.

Link: www.dibukbox.com

Best regards,

***************

Here are some details for your research on the topic:

Dibbuk Box Website: www.dibbukbox.com

Book produced by the Truman University Press: http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemId=453

The Possession movie trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431021/

Truman student Jeff Denight article: http://blogs.truman.edu/tsup/2012/08/17/the-dibbuk-box-jason-haxton-on-writing-his-story/

Just to clarify, the email is from the guy who owns it now, not the guy who got it from the estate sale?

Good research, by the way.

[buckskin scout]

This is abit late coming but tonite on SyFy ... Paranormal Witness is doing a feature on the Dybbuk Box. Check your local listings.

[sjlennon]

when i saw the picture on #5, i thought "that was on www.ghostmysteries.com"

[None of the above]

Just to clarify, the email is from the guy who owns it now, not the guy who got it from the estate sale?

Good research, by the way.

Hi Imaginarynumber1,

Yes, I emailed the guy who was the buyer in that auction. Ebay user 'agetron'

I sent him this message:

Dear agetron,

Sorry to bother you. I guess you are getting a lot of messages about the box that you bought back in 2004, Item number: 3701347648.

IMDB (internet movie database) forums has a claim that your box was the basis for the new film 'The Possession'.

I wondered if you could possibly confirm that this is the case?

were you involved in or contacted by the moviemakers?

And of course the burning question, did you personally have any unusual experiences after buying the box?

I hope you don't mind me asking, it's a great story and I guess a lot of people are curious.

Thanks for your time.

He replied:

The Dibbuk Box artifact is going to be a LIONSGATE movie called The Possession and comes out next Friday.

It is in an acacia ark surrounded in gold - and has been pretty calm for the last 4 years.

Go to the website and you can see it - press click button - lower right corner of homepage - dibbuk box website.

Link: www.dibukbox.com

Best regards,

***************

Here are some details for your research on the topic:

Dibbuk Box Website: www.dibbukbox.com

Book produced by the Truman University Press: http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemId=453

The Possession movie trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431021/

Truman student Jeff Denight article: http://blogs.truman.edu/tsup/2012/08/17/the-dibbuk-box-jason-haxton-on-writing-his-story/

I guess he's geting a lot of messages, so nice of him to take the time.

[Simbi Laveau]

There is also a thread about this in the movies section,which links to an old thread about the box,from UM 2008.

The box was sold on eBay without really being notorious at the time.

This is the second movie about the box.

The first focuses on the college students that had it .

[Simbi Laveau]

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=232384

[gnostic-deity]

This is abit late coming but tonite on SyFy ... Paranormal Witness is doing a feature on the Dybbuk Box. Check your local listings.

yep, watched it today. not too spooky i guess lol

[Galilei]

I watched the episode of Paranormal Witness (on SyFy) featuring the Dybbuk Box story. I wasn't expecting to watch it, but I stayed on the channel because I noticed the initial similarities between it and 'The Possession' previews that I had seen so much. I'm sure there are a lot of differences between the written accounts, this episode and the actual film.

[media=]

[/media]

[Harlequin Dreamer]

I remember a film I saw when I was young and it scared the sh1t out of me it was, The Entity [1982] what scared me was the fact it was bassed on real events.