Although mentioning exorcism always seems to bring to mind the movie The Exorcist and a couple of other recent past films about extracting the devil that has taken over a person. The Possession of Hannah Grace however, takes it another step by bringing the exorcised person into the public domain. Nicely directed, acting and filmed, the movie takes horror to another level where being alone in a morgue becomes another element with which to contend. Whether you are a horror buff or just like a lot of suspense mixed with terror, this movie is now out there on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
The film opens with an exorcism of the person Hannah Grace (Kirby Johnson) in progress with two priests and her father present. The situation gets out of control and deaths occur. The film flashes forward three months later and we find Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell), an ex-cop, applying for a night shift job working in the city morgue at Boston Metro Hospital. She meets up with her friend and AA sponsor Lisa Roberts (Stana Katic), she’s a nurse at Boston Metro, who introduces her to her soon to be boss Dr. Henry Lewis (James A. Watson, Jr. Her job is as an intake assistant that bring the bodies into the morgue room and photograph any unusual bruises, wounds, etc. She has complete control of the room at night and her swipe card is the only way in or out of it. Alone, her duty hours are the graveyard shift from 11pm to 7am.
Her first night on the job she meets hospital security guard Dave (Max McNamara) and then gets her first intake. It’s routine, but she’s in for a long night as visions start to appear involving an incident during her police career. But it’s only the beginning because the body of Hannah Grace becomes her next intake. Director Diederik Van Rooijen grabs his audience from the opening scene, lets them cool down, and then leads them into a night of gross terror. I like the way he shows Megan slowly trying to substitute mental stress for her feeling that someone or something is staking her. What’s even better is that the audience knows what’s going on, but Megan doesn’t, providing that “OMG it’s going to get her” scary and grotesque tactic. And it works!
Shay Mitchell as Megan Reed develops her character well showing the downsides, her failings and then maybe getting retribution for the one big mistake in her life. I like her in the role because it’s what’s needed to fend off the evil that he story calls for, especially against something that’s almost invincible. It’s like the daemons she’s had to carry around and now she’s getting a chance to face extract them from herself.
If I had to give a “really terrific” it would be for Kirby Johnson as Hannah Grace. Johnson’s awesome in the role as she not only images the devil inside Hannah, but she provides all the very scary moves including separating the bones in her shoulders, twisting her body in impossible directions, and making chilling facial expressions of incredible horror for her character. Although she does have some very good make-up (kudos to the make-up artists), there’s no stunt double here, just her ability to move and scream like a creature from hell.
BONUS MATERIAL:
Special features include the following: Caution, they contain spoilers.
“The Killer Cast” how they chose the actors and includes the actors explaining their roles. This extra features producer Sean Robins, Executive Producer Glenn Gainor, screenwriter Brian Sieve and stars Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson, and Nick Thune,
“An Autopsy of Hannah” Kirby Johnson takes you on a tour of the morgue, the prosthesis they used, amazing make-up affects that are shown on Johnson and a lot more.
“Megan’s Diaries” features a ‘Night One’ and ‘Night Two’ Shay Mitchell leads you through the terror dynamics of her two nights at the morgue.
“Deleted Scene” I Lied To You is a clip that for no reason I can think of was taken out of the film.
The Possession of Hannah Grace has been rated R for gruesome images and terror throughout. There’s a lot of bloody faces, ugly cadaver slices on Hanna’s body, rude language, and many jumpy opportunities. The film has been released for home viewing on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nicely laid out horror flick that really works well. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson, Nick Thune, Louis Herthum, Stana Katic, Jacob Ming-Trent
Director: Diederik Van Rooijen
MPAA Rating: R for gruesome images and terror throughout
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 26 min.
Video Release Date: February 26, 2019
Original Theatrical Release Date: November 30, 2018
Language: English (changeable to English Audio Descriptive Service, French, French Audio Descriptive Service
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, Aspect ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese
Number of Discs: 1 Disc + Digital HD
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Released in: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
