The Possession of Hannah Grace

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.

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!

If we're being honest, Screen Gems isn't known for churning out the world's best horror movies. Most of them feel undercooked to the point of tedium or, even worse, neutered to hell and back. The Possession of Hannah Grace falls somewhere in the middle. It's neither a total disaster nor a rare triumph for the studio a la The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Hannah Grace keeps things nicely subtle for the first half hour of its run time with creaking doors, motion-sensored lights lights going on and off, and strange bumps in the night. It loses something when it starts turning into an Asian ghost story-inspired contortionist fest.

Shay Mitchell is a likable enough heroine even though her backstory seems shoehorned in and a bit awkward. The film is never truly scary, but it speeds along at a nice enough clip so that you don't feel like you're wasting too much of your time.

It could be better, but knowing Screen Gems, it could have been a lot worse. The R rating seems almost like an afterthought since none of the deaths in the film are what one would call gory besides a grisly opening sequence and, although, the titular character spends most of her screen time completely nude, she's usually bathed in shadows to keep from seeing any real nudity.

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")

I'm a horror movie buff and I don't scare easy, but at this movie I actually screamed! Over the years I've learned to anticipate the jump scares and what not so the fact that his movie could still catch me off guard says a lot. The plot, the acting, the atmosphere, etc. were all also quite good. Good job well done; so go see it in theaters as it's not gonna be as good watching at home.