The Possession Of Hannah Grace

CAST:	Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson, Nick Thune, Louis Herthum
DIRECTION:	Diederik Van Rooijen
GENRE:	Horror, Thriller
DURATION:	1 hours 27 minutes

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.