THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE Review – A Cold Slab Of DOA Possession Generics
Starring Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson, Nick Thune, Louis Herthum, Stana Katic
Written by Brian Sieve
Directed by Diederik Van Rooijen
The Possession Of Hannah Grace‘s structural decomposition isn’t enough to elicit a scathing rant, nor does it surpass – nay, even meet – spooky cinema expectations. Diederik Van Rooijen’s “nightmare” is a cold slab of characterless possession generics that leaves zero impression. No favorable comparisons to The Autopsy Of Jane Doe worth making, more in common with Lights Out shadow play than any comparable genre cousin. Industrialized greyscale backgrounds as in Morgan, creaky rigor mortis crunches, and one haunted skeleton shift make for a night with little to remember – even if the core concept *does* achieve scant intrigue.
Shay Mitchell stars as Megan Reed, an ex-cop whose momentary freeze-up on the job cost her partner’s life. Now sober, still living in trauma but dealing with it, sponsor Lisa (Stana Katic) suggests a position in Boston Metro’s morgue to keep her off the streets at night. Megan accepts, interviews, and gets the lonesome gig. It’s a quiet reality where lights flicker, sounds echo, but boredom turns into panic when the corpse of Hannah Grace (Kirby Johnson) arrives. Her eye color doesn’t match identification, technology starts fritzing, and oh yeah, Hannah Grace was supposed to have died during an exorcism three months prior.
She ain’t dead yet, and worse, she’s out for blood.
The exterior, halls, and basement morgue of Boston Metro Hospital evoke the blocky outer appearance of Dredd’s housing complexes while interiors blend into neverending concrete nothingness. Silver steel refrigerator doors, bare walls, red alarm lighting might splash some brightness – The Possession Of Hannah Grace is a chilly sarcophagus with stale atmosphere. Even the incinerator room is a dull bore, but then again no film should try and outdo The Return Of The Living Dead when it comes to burning bodies alive (RIP James Karen). Cinematography can’t save frame when monochromatic surroundings struggle to achieve any level of genre personality (even when the camera spastically shakes to represent Hannah’s mighty power or whatever).
Moving to horror elements, you’re correct to assume undead Hannah Grace lurks about the understaffed hospital picking off victims. Urgent Care medic Randy (Nick Thune) unloads Hannah with visible slice wounds and charred skin, but still in-tact. We find out – after Hannah’s father (Louis Herthum) breaks into Megan’s workplace like a hooded criminal – that Hannah Grace’s host heals itself by assassinating others. Murder, absorb, rest: the film’s repeat cycle, except Hannah won’t kill Megan (and that’s never really explained). Only poor supporting cast dumbos who levitate in a crucifix position as Hannah telepathically contorts their bodies until bones snap.
Alas, scares are few and far between. If at all.
Hannah primarily sticks to the shadows, and whereas other exorcism/possession flicks like The Last Exorcism engage sideshow-level appendage bending, The Possession Of Hannah Grace is rather tame. Her figure hugs blackness, and Kirby Johnson isn’t given much menacing to do. One rooftop flinch – again, flashes of Lights Out – plays an obvious jump card, security footage shows Hannah sneaking around, she scowls a bunch while crushing victim’s fleshy forms, but it’s all so uninspired. Deaths without tension; bumps in the night without a heightened sense of anxiety. Rather straightforward – Megan’s insect horde vision and all – including how neatly and effortlessly Act III wraps Hannah’s “rampage” up via cadaver cooker and bullets.
The Possession Of Hannah Grace focuses drama on Megan’s redemption as an addict once controlled by PTSD. Officer Andrew Kurtz (Grey Damon) – macho ex-boyfriend – keeps popping up as an emotional driver for Megan’s acceptance, supposedly to up Hannah’s final ante with love on the line. Megan proves herself by not swallowing Xanax despite her night turning ghoulishly stressful, makes peace with those she’s hurt, and once again faces a situation where if she freezes, her partner dies. It’s such an easily – eh, tiresome – plotted arc to follow, right down to her boxing class introduction to assert Megan’s fighting spirit. I wonder if she’ll squeeze the trigger second time around!
Momentarily, in short bursts, The Possession Of Hannah Grace seems to gain momentum. Maximillian McNamara plays a hapless security goofball named Dave who’s “nice guy” routine is an awkward red flag – even more so than him sniffing french fries – but comedic relief is short-lived (for the better). Nick Thune’s chemistry alongside Mitchell is a friendly blend of two jaded souls making the most of grim working environments, but again, his performance is only in support. A few shots Hannah’s gored body – pretzeled and curled with deep gashes – and some slithery wall-climber movements are bargain-bin creepy, but everything lands so weightlessly. Expected, seen before, without a strive to push boundaries. Hence why Van Rooijen’s forgettable start-to-finish is so frustrating.
In keeping with undertaker puns, The Possession Of Hannah Grace is dead-on-arrival demonic doldrums drained of visible life. Shay Mitchell’s resourceful investigating never breaks “by-the-books badass” or cookie-cutter rebuilding. Cinematography can’t artfully maneuver around parking garages or mundane slabbed architecture. Hannah Grace proves a curious possession subject with a merciless backstory – including an impaled priest – but etches not her name alongside “Regan” or “Emily Rose” or even “Katie.” Too plodding, never scary, and predictable to an unforgivable fault. The same throwaway blaspheme you’ve switched off time and time again on late-night cable.
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The Possession Of Hannah Grace
Summary
The Possession Of Hannah Grace is a trite possession runabout that boasts the charm of being locked in a morgue refrigerator for 90 minutes.
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