The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession – Review
A dark, brooding mansion steeped in occult history, influencers dabbling in rituals for clicks, and a mysterious “Black Countess” who disappeared during an attempt to cross into another dimension. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession promises – an eerie anthology of terror laced with supernatural shenanigans.

The premise kicks off with a group of social media influencers—because of course!—who decide to play a dangerous supernatural ritual at the mansion of Lady Anne, aka the “Black Countess.” Legend has it, she vanished during a game designed to transport her to another dimension. What could possibly go wrong? Spoiler: everything. When they light 100 candles as part of the game, they unintentionally invite malevolent spirits into their world and find themselves at the mercy of paranormal forces.

The film unfolds as a horror anthology, they’re telling a ghost story before extinguishing each candle, which means the narrative takes us through multiple short horror stories as the candles burn out. Each tale has its own spooky premise, though they are loosely connected to the overarching story of the influencers trying to outlast the ritual. The stories are:
The Last Possession – Directed by Guillermo Lockhart
Arcana – Directed by Jeronimo Rocha
The Fortune Teller – Directed by David Ferino
Five Minutes – Directed by Maximilian Niemann
Let Her Go – Directed by Arie Socorro
Behind The Door – Directed by Andres Borghi
Black Moon – Directed by Ryan Graff

However, the anthology format is both a blessing and a curse. While this style allows multiple directors to give us their take on the creepy ideas, the shorts often feel rushed and lack the time to develop tension or deliver meaningful payoffs. There’s a thin line between teasing horror and leaving you hanging—and this film stumbles into the latter too often.

Though the cast do their best with what they’re given, the characters often fall into predictable tropes. The performances range from decent to melodramatic which I suppose is to be expected with this type of anthology.
Visually, the film has moments of promise. The haunted mansion is suitably eerie, with its shadow-filled corridors and vintage décor giving off haunted Airbnb vibes. However, the cinematography veers from cinematic to telenovela, which undermines the sense of dread. The opening “last possession” has some real moments of unease and “eww” which don’t seem to lead through the rest of the film and probably makes it disjointed from the off.

The special effects are a mixed bag and the lighting plays a big role in building suspense, with the flickering candles acting as a metaphor for the dwindling hope of survival. Yet, the film rarely capitalises fully on the inherent creepiness of its premise.

Clocking in at just 73 minutes, The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession is short but feels longer due to its uneven pacing and underdeveloped scares. The anthology format works against the film in this case, with many of the stories feeling like missed opportunities.

If you’re a horror fan who enjoys anthology films and can overlook some structural flaws, it’s well worth a late-night watch.
The candles burn bright, but do the scares flicker out too soon?
Oh and remember, if someone asks you to light 100 candles in a haunted house… just say no.