The problem with doing a possession movie nowadays is that the sub-genre has been done to death. When I was catching up on 2014 horror movies back in December, I watched no less than seven possession films (The Possession of Michael King, The Taking of Deborah Logan, Deliver Us From Evil, Devil’s Due, The Quiet Ones, Asmodexia and At The Devil’s Door). Watching that many possession films in the span of two weeks really made me realize that these movies aren’t even trying to do anything different with the sub-genre. Lionsgate’s new horror film The Vatican Tapes, out this weekend, is no different. It is yet another generic possession film with barely any surprises.

Angela (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is celebrating her birthday with her boyfriend (John Patrick Amedori) and father (Dougray Scott) one day when she cuts her finger on a knife. After going to the hospital to get stitches, she begins acting strangely. Ravens start flying close to her, people injure themselves after talking to her, she contorts her body, attempts to drown babies, etc. After seeking counsel from a priest (Michael Peña), they begin to suspect that she is possessed by a demon or the Devil Himself.

Sound familiar? It’s not that The Vatican Tapes is actively bad. On the contrary, it’s actually competently directed and has decently acted (though some of the actors look bored). It’s just so dull. There is nothing here that you haven’t seen in plenty of other possession films many times before.

Also, I’m not one to hound on a horror movie for being PG-13. Movies need to be seen by a wide audience to make money. I get that, but it bothers me when the rating takes you out of the film.

***MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD***

There is a scene in The Vatican Tapes  where a character grabs two light bulbs and jams them into his eyes. The camera is focused on this character’s torso the entire time, with no blood dripping or blood stains on the character’s hands. It was so obviously shot and edited to keep the PG-13 rating that it takes you out of the film. It just felt staged

***END SPOILERS***

Olivia Taylor Dudley does get some creepy moments in the film, one of which being an extended sequence where she is whispering to a wall, but she’s no Linda Blair, Jennifer Carpenter, or even Ashley Bell (The Last Exorcism). There’s an unintentionally hilarious moment involving Angela regurgitating whole eggs that looks like it was taken right out of Airplane! Dougray Scott also gets some good moments as her worrying father. Both Michael Peña and Djimon Hounsou are serviceable, but not much is asked from either of them.

One thing The Vatican Tapes has going for it is its ending. The final five or ten minutes show such potential for a better sequel (yes, I said it) that it just reinforces how bland everything that came before it is. What would have made The Vatican Tapes better is if the first 80 minutes were relegated to a prologue, and then the last ten minutes expanded into a full-length feature. What we get instead is The Vatican Tapes in its present form, and if you can manage to keep yourself awake throughout the whole thing then you deserve a medal.

With this, The Gallows and the Poltergeist remake, it’s been a pretty bad summer for horror movies. Let’s hope Sinister 2 can pull an 11th hour home run for the genre next month.