Movie Review: The Possession Of Hannah Grace
2.5/5
Hollywood has many sub-genres when it comes to horror. Demon possession is one. Zombie, vampirism, werewolf films -- the so-called creature horror is another. What happens if you try to mix the elements? Well, director Diederik Van Rooijen has tried and the result is The Possession Of Hannah Grace. The beautiful Kirby Johnson plays Hannah Grace. In the beginning of the film we see her being exorcised. But the demon possessing her proves to be too strong for the priests and kills them in gory ways. Her father kills her in desperation. But she doesn't stay dead. Her demon is a cunning fella. He finds her a 'cure’ for death. She has to kill other people in order to heal herself. When we see her next after the initial scenes, she's a horribly mutated, half burnt cadaver brought to a morgue. Our heroine Megan (Shay Mitchell), is an ex-cop with anxiety issues who has just taken the job of a morgue assistant and works the night shift. Now why would someone with such a predicament take such a morbid job? Wouldn’t it add to the anxiety. But the makers clearly don't think so. So three months later after being killed by her father, Hannah’s body turns up at the morgue where Megan works. Soon, the killings begin and ultimately it’s up to the protagonist to stop the demon from hurting others by coming up with of a final solution to the problem...Diederik Van Rooijen has got the setting right but has relied too much on jump cuts and jarring music to get his point across. The problem is that you like it when the corpse silently creeps up on people, kills them and then crawls back into her slot in the morgue. It’s the silent stalking that really spooks you up more than the jump cuts. The film starts off with an exorcism but along the way the Church seems to have let go of the fight. It would have been great if we saw an agent sent to avenge the killing of the priests. The cadaver makeup given to Kirby Johnson is the real deal. You feel repulsed seeing the various violent cuts and blemishes on her body and you wish there was more of the same in the film. Unfortunately, the other corpses look well, too normal for a horror film. We hear about the mayhem Hannah wrought before being brought to the morgue but don’t really get to see her all out in action.
The claustrophobia of the morgue is well-created. The cinematography offers a harsh and bleak picture of Megan’s workplace. But her character isn’t fleshed out properly. And as a result you don’t really root for her when the time comes. Shay Mitchell has stayed true to her character but her histrionics aren’t enough to fill in all the holes in the plot. All-in-all, The Possession Of Hannah Grace had the potential to be a cracker of a movie -- imagine a demon possessed corpse running riot in a hospital. Instead of giving us a bloodbath, we are given an atmospheric piece and this toning down of horror doesn’t work in the film’s favour.
Trailer : The Possession Of Hannah Grace
Neil Soans, December 7, 2018, 3:30 AM IST
2.5/5
The Possession Of Hannah Grace Story: A former cop working the graveyard shift at a morgue encounters a possessed body.
The Possession Of Hannah Grace Review: A young girl, Hannah Grace (Kirby Johnson) dies when an exorcism goes horribly wrong. But killing Hannah doesn't release her from the spirit inhabiting her body. Months later, her cadaver ends up at a morgue, where Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell) has recently taken up the night shift. Megan has demons of her own - she has recently quit her career as a policewoman due to an incident that left her traumatised. To cope with her PTSD, she becomes addicted to drugs and needs to go to rehab. Megan chooses an unusual job because she has encountered enough death and gore before, so she isn't easily rattled by the prospect of working alone in a morgue. But that changes when Hannah's body shows up.
Megan Reed has a compelling backstory that makes her character intriguing enough. It's easy to relate to her choices, and no matter how flawed she comes across, you want to root for her. Additionally, the creepy setting of a morgue, where Megan must work alone, also lends to an excellent atmosphere for a horror flick. Yet, as much as the film sets up its lead character and premise, it completely wastes any potential it had to be a creepy watch. This becomes particularly evident towards its third act when it ditches any pretence of being different and goes all out with the usual horror tropes that have plagued the genre overall. A jarring score, lazy camera work and sloppy editing make almost all the scares increasingly predictable, to the point when you are waiting for the possessed woman to appear on cue, and she does.
Although the cast doesn't have anything new or inventive to play with, Shay Mitchell and Louis Herthum - as Hannah's father - put in the strongest work. Mitchell is particularly effective in the lead role, which only adds to the inevitable frustration when the film drops the ball and commits to the usual scares that have been synonymous with the 'possession horror' sub-genre. It also keeps changing Hannah's abilities as per the plot's convenience, with the hope of keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, but in reality barely masks its lack of direction. Inverted crosses, twisted limbs, levitating bodies - 'Possession of Hannah Grace' throws them all at the screen but still leaves you unimpressed in a forgettable film.
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