Possessed

Possessed is a 2000 American made-for-television horror film directed by Steven E. de Souza, written by de Souza and Michael Lazarou, and starring Timothy Dalton. The film is based on events appearing in the book Possessed by Thomas B. Allen, which was inspired by the exorcism case of Roland Doe. The film aired on Showtime on October 22, 2000, and was released on DVD in the United States on October 2, 2001. Plot summary William S. Bowdern (Timothy Dalton) is a World War II veteran who was severely affected by a bad experience in France on All Saints’ Day in 1944. In the first scene of the film, we flash-back through one of Bowdern's dreams to where he was trying to escape from a German advance as Schutzstaffel (SS) soldiers execute wounded American soldiers. A wounded soldier calls Bowdern, the chaplain, to give him the Last Rites; Bowdern at first denies him so he can escape. Bowdern rethinks the matter and does his duty but is bayonetted by an SS soldier. He becomes an alcoholic, tormented by his injuries and the guilt of refusing a dying man's last wish. Years later, Bowdern is teaching his students at St. Louis University (SLU) when, at the end of the lecture, an angry mob smashes the classroom's windows. When Bowdern gets out, he discovers that there is a demonstration against the school's recent racial integration. When the police arrive, he asks them to arrest "those people" — meaning the protestors — but the police arrest the black students instead. Angered, Bowdern physically attacks the cops, who arrest him as well. Father Raymond McBride (Henry Czerny) pays his bail, and drives him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital to show where the church places hopeless alcoholics and the mentally ill.