The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018) User Reviews

Decent creepy film. Think The Lazarus Effect meets The Autopsy Of Jane Doe

[tonyjcole94 · 6/10 · 7 December 2018]

I wasn't expecting much going into this film. I saw the dreadful critic reviews so I went into the movie expecting the worst. Surprisingly .. it wasnt bad . The whole "possession" concept is nothing new of course. It's been done millions of times. But I like the way they went about this film . It was a good storyline , creepy imagery , decent acting , etc. One thing I'd like to point out is the great cinemotography , especially after finding out the entire film was shot on a Sony a7SII, which isnt a "Hollywood film camera" by any means.

Now the negative and the reason why I gave it a 6/10. This added nothing new to the horror genre and will surely be forgotten . In a way I felt like the film maker didnt know where he wanted to fully go with the film so he kinda bounced around with elements. The movie is really short, not even an hour and a half long, yet it feels like certain parts of the film dragged and other parts were incredibly rushed .I wish they would've taken more time on the backstory of the main character for us to connect with her more. Also the ending was confusingly rushed . Could've been a solid 8 if the pacing of the film was handled more correctly . Would I reccomend paying your money to see this ? Meh , if you have NOTHING to do then yes. Otherwise catch it on redbox

The Possession of Hannah Grace

[henry8-3 · 4/10 · 3 November 2020]

A young girl possessed by something unpleasant is killed during an exorcism and her body is brought to a vast city morgue where troubled ex cop (Mitchell) has just taken on a job on the night shift.

The vastness of the morgue and the flickering of lights add to make this quite good fun. Like most horror films like this though it is better in the build up than once things get out in the open where I'd slips away relying on lots of blood and screaming. So overall ok ish rather than good for late night fun. One point, not sure why the spirit merrily kills everything in sight but not our heroine, even when she gets the chance - confusing.

not too bad

[mageh · 6/10 · 10 December 2018]

The movie may be not remarkable but quite decent and pretty scary at some scenes. It doesn't deserve so many bad reviews and yes it reminds of Autopsy of Jane Doe. However, it is still decent scary movie. Not too bad ...

4

[Edvis-1997 · 4/10 · 16 March 2019]

Below average. Nothing special. Very cheap effects I believe it had very poor budget. The plot is based on two movies The exorcism of Molly Hartley which was nothing special and The autopsy of Jane Doe which was amazing film and they've created this tragic "horror" movie. Wouldn't recommend it.

Not bad, but Not Memorable

[marcusfernandez-28887 · 7/10 · 15 December 2018]

This film should have been garbage, it is a new take on an old concept but the trailers weren't spectacular and seemed like a film that belongs in the horror wasteland of January. However, to be entirely honest it really isn't that bad and it's fair to say that for the most part it exceeded my low expectations. The central performance was quite good and most of the first and second act was pretty tense. The setting is solid and the director clearly was genuinely trying. That being said, the film does become extremely predictable, and not all the scares land. The third act explodes into cliche, and there are perhaps too many plot holes for me to just ignore. Overall, The Possession of Hannah Grace is better than the trailers suggest, it's a well acted enjoyable ride and does have some good scares, but the frequent jump scares, predictable flow of events and plot holes prevent this film from being anything memorable.

Had a decent start but really went off the rails.

[FKDZ · 4/10 · 22 July 2021]

I got this movie recommended because it was supposedly pretty scary. Well. It started out alright. I love the set / location. The acting is good, and the script is decent.. but how do you manage to make a horror movie so predictable and sadly ruin the scaryness if it.

The main letdowns are here are the use of terrible CGI and sound design. I've never heard a demon that's this bland and boring. Even her kills are boring and repetitive. The main thing though, this movie use CGI instead of practical and it didn't even need CGI... That's the worst part. It's obvious, it's ugly and it shouldn't be, especially in 2018.

So yeah.. it's a slow burn horror, with some decent jumps, good acting and a great location, but that's it for me.

4/10.

It's a demonic possession movie....

[theoneandonlyhyperdriver · 7/10 · 7 December 2018]

I'm not sure what people expect from a film with "possession" in the title. It breaks no new ground but is well made. If you like these types of films you'll enjoy it, if you don't, you won't!

Everything looks incomplete

[harmit-86912 · 3/10 · 21 February 2019]

The overall concept seemed new, but the delivery was incomplete. I wished movie maker had put 100% in everything. I see almost every horror movie and can say there was nothing scary or possessed or horror even the exorcism done only at the beginning of the movie was silly. The funniest part of the movie was in the end, where the Hannah/possessed plays dead by gun shots only.

A decent monstrosity

[MistrTxxas · 7/10 · 30 November 2018]

This movie isn't the worst suspense/horror movie of the year, but it certainly isn't the greatest either. Shay Mitchell saves this movie from being utter trash. It's a pleasant surprise seeing her act in this genre and she does a good job. This movie has a couple of good scare scenes along with a simple and predictable story line. Ultimately, watch this movie and judge for yourselves but don't go in expecting The Shining or anything.

my notes

[FeastMode · 3/10 · 27 July 2019]

This felt competently made in a lot of ways. felt more like a good movie than a mindless horror flick. yet it still sucked. so many dumb moments, so many questionable parts. and worst of all, it's super boring and barely scary. lots of cliches and some really bad editing. i had to rewatch a couple scenes in slow motion to confirm if it was that bad, and yes, it was. (1 viewing)

Eerie and Creepy

[jeymatt · 8/10 · 6 December 2018]

I would say it's an above average horror movie with a very mediocre storyline but nevertheless it's still quite eerie, creepy and scary.

Hannah's Tale To Scale

[rgkarim · 7/10 · 30 November 2018]

Wrapping up the month of November, comes a movie one might not expect with the holiday season. Despite the season of giving, joy and family, Hollywood is ready to scare the pants off you with another shot at the horror ladder. Under the guise of not a typical exorcist movie, tonight's review is hoping that the unique twist will live up to the hype of the advertisements. Robbie K back with another film review as I take on:

Film: The Possession Of Hannah Grace (2018) Director: Diederik Van Rooijen Writer: Brian Sieve Stars: Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson

Likes:

Time Length: A movie that can get the job done in fewer than 90-minutes gets my vote for bonus points. Hanna grace's story is done within 80 minutes, at a pace that does little to divert from the scares.

The Acting: For a film limited to practically one cast member, Hannah Grace's film isn't half bad. Mtichell dives full force into the character, managing to portray the multi-tiered roll quite well, in a balanced manner that was engaging to watch. Her other cast members gets points for their respective roles, though there is little to springboard off of given the limited development. Nevertheless, the acting works.

Special Effects/Make-up: To get the scares you've got to sometimes have a look to base your central character around. In this film, the effects departments gets high fives for their work. Grace's body is crushing to the soul, an amalgam of twisted limbs, horrifying scars , and look that penetrates through the layers of your being, unwilling to give you any relief as her eyes follow you across the screen. As more twists and turns occur appear, Grace's movements become bone crunching bashes of disturbing symphonies that make one squirm in their seats. It's creepy, it's uncomforting... and it works well as the central scare tactic of the movie.

The Variety of Scares: Hannah Grace has decided to deploy all the scare types into the mix, managing to bring together jump scares, creepiness, and deadly all wrapped into one. Utilization of these three leave one ready to be moved in so many ways, that one can't help but get immersed into if you are a horror fan.

The Setting: By far the most blood curdling components is the setting of this film. A morgue is no place to play, and the worst part about this is... it's real. Unlike the films that have characters stupidly trekking into lands they should never find, Hannah Grace is about working in a morgue where the dead go to meet their end. Very similar to the great horror films, they use this setting well, keeping things in the shadows and a sense of only revealing so much to allow your imagination to fill in the gap. The setting of this film is certainly the biggest element that gave me the willies and proof that simplicity can go a long way in invoking nightmares.

Dislikes:

The Predictability: While there are plenty of scare tactics utilize in this film, the problem with this film is how predictable they become. Perhaps this is just me and my desensitization, but the film gave way too much to keep the scare factor going. The stale presentation got a little old and by the midway mark I was searching for different means to get Hannah's wrath out. If you are one that jumps at everything, this won't be the case for you, but otherwise, get set for some lackluster tactics.

The Characters: Outside of Megan (Shay Mitchell), the rest of the crew were there, characters that started introducing themselves, only to later not have much gusto behind them. Possession of Hannah Grace had the opportunity to flesh out more of their characters to help extend out the players in this deadly game of whatever it is. It's not the worst case I've seen, but there was room for improvement to give the movie a little more dimension.

The Story: I get it, most people aren't about a tale when it comes to a scary film, instead craving the scare you until you wet your pants moment. Still, the best horror movies utilize a story well to draw the suspense out, give purpose to the scares, and give you the investment into the film. Hannah Grace's tale had all the scraps of a story there, enough to culminate into a plot, but there is so much more needed to help improve upon the dislikes mentioned above. Without the strong story, the movie soon becomes a desperate struggle to stay afloat as it crams as much of the scariness into the film to try to distract from the shallow film. Many subplots are dropped or reduced to hasty tie ups, others are simplistic dialogue that adds little to the film other than time. This brings me to the biggest dislike

The Ending: Perhaps the studio ran out of money, perhaps it was always the plan, but the momentum Hannah Grace had at the beginning was lost for me. The opening did the role it sought out, which was to creep you out, get you on edge and show what the antagonist was capable of. Then somewhere around the fifty-minute mark... the feel suddenly changed. No longer the creepy, suspense building trek through the dark, the latter half soon became a very mashed together display of power, with stale scare tactics, grandiose roaring, and hasty wrapped up plots. The big finale felt a little forced and the rushed plots did little to add much other than an over the top roar fest. Outside of the cheese factor, it was fine and held some moral filled monologues to boot, but compared to the theme of the opening acts... it just doesn't quite settle with me.

The VERDICT:

The Possession of Hannah Grace held potential and it delivered on some of it with that opening act. It's creepy, it's disturbing and it works on levels to give you the fear factor you want at the end. Yet, the movie has a long way to go to get to the great level others have achieved, utilizing that incredible make up and special effects to great heights and having a story to support it. That ending was rushed and perhaps better planning and coordination may craft a film that we have been waiting some time for. Still, not the worst movie and certainly worth checking out on streaming in the future.

My Scores Are:

Horror/Mystery/Thriller: 7.0 Movie Overall; 5.5

A copycat of a movie.....

[carlwebersmith · 1/10 · 16 February 2019]

I guess the writer, directors watched "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" and then decided to make a new movie, "improving" on the original by adding some more gory death scenes and a more gruesome looking corpse.

It is pretty boring with a somewhat dull lead actress.

There is noting here.

Forgettable horror

[A_winters_wolf · 4/10 · 27 October 2020]

Dull and boring if your thinking of watching this I highly recommend watching the autopsy of Jane Doe instead that's a much better and scarier movie. I don't have much to really say about this it's not terrible it's just about watchable but it's not going to frighten you and your most certainly going to forget about it quickly.

Hannah Grace

[jsartorpearlms · 7/10 · 2 December 2018]

My review for Possession of Hannah Grace: It has all the stuff you'd expect from a possession movie. Jump scares, suspense, great story, gore. And leaves an opening for a sequel. Overall I give it a 7 out of 10.

This just feels like the first draft of The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

[LaurinsDursin · 1/10 · 17 February 2019]

First of all, I'm a huge fan of the genre and was looking forward to this movie. The trailer seemed pretty decent so I was wondering if the movie could live up to it.

Sadly, they ruined it more than I could imagine. Some parts made me think of some kind of cheap ripoff from the Autopsy Of Jane Doe.

The acting was average, only guy I liked seeing on screen was the father, but just because he was in Westworld.

The plot was predictable at all time and they just missed every scare for me.

Maybe I've seen too many horror movies, but I don't get these positive reviews.. This movie was a disaster.

Unoriginal but not Bad

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 21 February 2019]

After spending a period in rehab, the former police officer Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell) accepts the job offered by her friend Lisa Roberts (Stana Katic) to work in the graveyard shift in a hospital morgue. Megan is recovering from a stress caused by a situation where her partner died. Megan receives the corpse of a young woman named Hannah Grace (Kirby Johnson) and later a man tries to burn the body in the incinerator but Megan and the security team hold and arrest the man. Soon Megan has the weird sensation that Hannah Grace is recovering from her injuries but her friend Lisa believes she is still using drugs and does not believe in her. But soon she realizes that there is something evil in the cadaver.

"The Possession of Hannah Grace" is an unoriginal but not bad horror film. The screenplay could have been better not showing the exorcism of Hannah Grace in the beginning, but maybe in flashback to keep the mystery. But the performances are great and the creepy atmosphere keeps the tension. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Cadáver" ("Cadaver")

An awful horror film

[jtindahouse · 4/10 · 27 February 2019]

'The Possession of Hannah Grace' personifies everything that is wrong with the horror genre at the moment. It is so criminally unoriginal, criminally uninspired and most of all criminally not scary. The very first scene of the movie alone must've been done 100 times before almost identically. From there it just gets worse. The settings, the dialogue, the attempted jump-scares from characters doing things no rational human being on earth ever would (I say attempted because nothing in the way of giving you a fright works in this movie). It all equals a very bad film.

If there was a heart-rate monitor attached to me during this movie I can almost guarantee that it went down over the course of the movie and never went up a single beat. I know as much because I was having to work seriously hard not to fall asleep. The creature in this movie wouldn't scare 5 year-olds. What horror filmmakers too often forget is that it's what you don't see that is actually scary, as opposed to what you do. That's why 'Paranormal Activity' was so effective. What we can imagine is so much worse than what they can actually put on screen.

The characters in this film were bloody awful too. The main girl was the only mildly likeable one. The problem with that though is that she's the only character that feels completely safe. 'The Possession of Hannah Grace' never for one second dares to do anything outside the box or daring. It is completely forgettable in every way and not worth your time or effort.

The Possession of Hannah Grace: Best exorcism movie in recent memory

[Platypuschow · 7/10 · 26 February 2019]

I remember watching the trailer for this, letting off a yawn and being distinctly unimpressed. It looked like nothing we hadn't seen before and part of a sub-genre I just don't tend to like.

Exorcism movies all tend to be predictable, generic, full of the same tropes and lashings of religious nonsense. Thankfully The Possession of Hannah Grace doesn't fall into any of the usual pitfalls and manages to be a different creature altogether.

Avoiding the priests (Probably best), the girl tied to a bed (No comment) and general religious incantations we instead see a possessed corpse brought into a morgue during the graveyard shift and the hell that is raised.

With a moody original setting, decent budget and competent lead the film had everything going for it and delivered something unexpectedly better than what I had envisioned. Though it's a possession film still this is so very different from everything that has come before it, it's as much a jump from previous movies as erm......Leprechaun in Space from the other Leprechaun movies!

It's not groundbreaking and personally I think the movie has pacing issues but once you put that to one side you have a competently made interesting little horror film that's well worth a viewing.

The Good:

Great idea

Decent setting

Some good characters

Antagonist looks the part

The Bad:

Pacing issues

Could have done with an extra 30 minutes

Uninspiring

[adeleysim · 4/10 · 20 February 2019]

This film could've done well with its plot and budget, but the action was boring and the atmosphere was not creepy at all.

A flawed but Good Horror that didnt need certain scenes.

[gerry_barnaby · 8/10 · 1 December 2018]

The Possession of Hannah Grace is good but flawed in certain areas, not that this was a complete disaster of a film the running time was great for this type of film, the minimal cast works for the film because it gives the feel of isolation and close spaces.

Mitchell role in this film is great in giving the audience a scene of someone that went through a shocking experience which broke her, in order to coupe she applies for a job as a graveyard shift of a hospital Morgue, which turn into a complete nightmare.

She pulls this performance off really well, give us a believable character, as well as the other cast member with their respective roles really set the tone for the film.

Special Effects/Make-up that gone into this film from Grace's body which is crushing to the soul, an amalgam of twisted limbs, horrifying scars, and look that penetrates through your being making you unsettled, unwilling to give you any relief as her eyes follow you across the screen really works to make the audience unsettled.

As it like if though its a film, it like she actually looking at you seating in you're seated, which make it even more unsettling. Special later on which the way they have her move is just the creepiest thing ever make you squirm in you're seat.

The backdrop of the morgue with concrete walls, corners that have a light sensor that you have to walk down for the light to come on really making this film tone unsettling as the only exits is a Lift and a door that leads to the main building. It gives a sense of feeling of being in an isolated area of the hospital with a creepy tone.

The story wise the film is predictable but it's easy to follow and understand on what's happening although there were scenes that I would have taken out and change just to make this film hell of a lot more frightening than it was.

Which is why im saying the film is great but flawed because there are certain areas of the film that kind of make the film less scare and kind of loss the audience toward the end. This is similar in a way to a film called the autopsy of jane doe giving the audience creepy moments, giving that psychological tone which gets under your skin moments, but where this film differs from that film is it kind of losses the audience toward the end although the film has great entertainment.

Dislikes: What this film does wrong is the First scene, this wasn't needed in the film, why? Because the scene after with the body turning up with no explanation, then all of a sudden things started to psychologically happen, this would have given the film its edge and got rid of the predictability of the film.

It should have kept these small supernatural moments all the way through to the third act of the film, see in the third act of the film you would reveal who the body is and what happens, that's when thing would start getting more dangerous this is kind of how this film should have gone, not that it wasn't a good film to watch.

Better than i expected

[theromanempire-1 · 7/10 · 30 November 2018]

Although i'm a huge horror fan the supernatural horror sub-genre was never my fav and so there were a few only flicks concerning exorcism and haunted houses that I really loved. Apart from exceptions like the exorcist and the Amityville horror series few of other similar flicks I really loved. one of those is the shining. After those films I remember that I liked the exorcism of Emily rose and after that I think is this film. creepy morgue atmosphere a great lead female actor acceptable plot story good scares here and there and a great exorcism opening which reminded me of the exorcist film. Maybe the only flaw this film had a real flaw I mean was the ending which was done like they wanted to finish the movie quickly. the way the evil was destroyed could have been made in a more right way and with more suspense. It's not a great film but for me is better than most of similar films who were released in recent years like the conjuring and the Annabelle films which for me were disappointing to say the least.

If u want to have a good time and u are in to those films then this is for you.

Grade B- (7 out of 10)

Further recommendations from this genre

The Amityville horror original trilogy The Amityville horror 2005 The shining (both versions) The exorcist movies and tv series The exorcism of Emily rose The prophecy trilogy The omen trilogy and the remake

Nothing new.

[tostesarantes · 4/10 · 24 January 2021]

Well, it's hard to watch a possession movie in which they didn't lost the path and went through common place - the devil, super strong, killing personally everyone on his way. That's what happened here, unfortunately. Better luck next time!

See anything else... anything

[xshanex-54161 · 1/10 · 30 November 2018]

The Possession of Hannah Grace is horrible. A Cliche, boring, poorly written, predictable, and laughably bad film. Everyone was laughing during the scenes they try to scare you with, and I was just sighing.

It was like watching Golem crawling around looking for his damn precious.... I see why they didn't allow critics to screen it before release. Bad CGI and timid "cut scene" deaths. It's Absolutely awful. Save Your money and your brain cells.

Not a bad film

[bmorris-65820 · 7/10 · 5 December 2018]

Not a bad horror, there were plenty of jumps, and it was pretty creepy . The characters were (mostly) likeable and the story was ok. It's definitely worth a watch if you want an easy to watch horror with some jumps and a bit of a scare. Some parts were a bit over the top but really it's a decent film.