Grace: The Possession (I) (2014) User Reviews (47)

Another boring Exorcist Knockoff!

[rajivness · 4/10 · 2 November 2014]

OK so this is YET another possession movie. The afflicted here is an innocent church going girl who is stalked by a malevolent force.

The Good (or nice): No nudity. Tastefullly executed camera work which eliminates the need for nudity which is quite common in this genre.

The Bad (or annoying): the movie is a POV movie i.e. you see events from the eyes of the protagonist. This tactic - while interesting, doesn't make up for the shallow script and storyline.

The Ugly (or boring): There is NOTHING original about this movie. It is greatly inspired by The Exorcism of Emily Rose - right from the College Campus locale to events happening on campus. The 'take me instead' is borrowed from The Exorcist - end scene. Also similar to Anthony Hopkins' - The Rite (where an exorcist is possessed). The cruel Grand Mother is borrowed from the similar religiously deranged character from the Carrie movie (carrie's mother).

I'm upset that they never explained what the malevolent force/entity was. They never really explained much about the Protagonist's mother - until the very end - which kind of explains why the mother denies God in the beginning of the movie. But nothing more than that. The story is shallow and lacking.

They could've added some layers to the characters - so we feel something for them and understand - why they are the way they are. Though, the characters are kinda bland.

OK, so avoid this movie at all costs - if you've seen any of the movies I've cited. if you've never seen any possession type movie - then you may watch this movie - keeping in mind - that you should have extremely low entertainment expectations.

Perspective

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 18 October 2021]

Or POV in this case ... if I'm not mistaken the Maniac remake with Elijah Wood was around the same time this came out ... maybe a bit later. So this camera thing seemed to be the flavor of the month for a bit. Like a found footage with a twist sort of thing I reckon.

Having said that, this has quite the interesting cast to boost. Of course you can never compare any movie to the Exorcist. Or rather you shouldn't - whatever movie you take and try to compare with one of best movies ever (not just in the horror genre) ... it's going to lose for sure.

Having said that, this is a decent low budget effort - once you wrapped your head around the style it was shot - no pun intended.

Horror.....!

[ziad-33348 · 6/10 · 7 October 2021]

Why are we looking through her eyes.....this is stupid.....

Surprisingly good

[smoke0 · 1 November 2014]

I was really pleasantly surprised. The first-person POV is well done, the cast can act, the story is complete, and there isn't a single wasted moment.

What may turn some potential viewers off is that this movie is also Lifetime-channel-ready, as there is no gore or nudity (at least in the version I saw), which normally would be fine for me, because I don't need the typical tacky tropes of horror movies to be able to enjoy a horror movie.

However, in this case, the lack of nudity and gore is actually too safe and too tame, as it detracts from the movie's overall impact, especially with the back story glimpses and progressive changes in the lead character, but that's hardly a reason to stay away. And there must be the inevitable director's cut available sooner or later...

Hilariously bad horror.

[emilymitchellhome · 1/10 · 21 August 2021]

Nothing quite makes sense. These are the questions that remain unanswered:

• why did she go to college? Why did she not go back?

• why is the entire church congregation not concerned when she spits blood?

• why are the choir boys all wearing dog collars?

• where did she get the key to her mums room? And if it was "the demon" why did grandma not see that coming?

• who let this movie happen?

Aside from that, great comedy.

Boring, Unoriginal and Lame Horror Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 6 December 2014]

The eighteen year-old Grace (Alexia Fast) is a Catholic teenager raised by her grandmother Helen (Lin Shaye) since her mother died giving birth to her and her father is unknown. Grace joins the university and has frequent blackouts. The doctor diagnoses her and tells that she might have a mental condition, suggesting her to visit a psychiatrist. However the pious Helen brings her granddaughter home and forces her to frequent the church. Soon Grace discovers hidden secrets from her mother and the priests tell that evil is inside her.

"Grace" is a boring, unoriginal and lame low-budget horror movie of exorcism. The movie is destroyed by the awful and irritating camera work. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Grace" ("The Mystery of Grace")

Poor

[JackUK1973 · 1/10 · 21 August 2021]

Unoriginal script, there's not one scene that you won't have seen elsewhere, probably executed better.

The acting was passable at best. Most of the characters were a cliche, so maybe the actors were constrained with what they had to work with, or maybe they just weren't great actors.

What sets this movie apart is that it's almost all filmed in the first person of Grace. That didn't work for me, especially scenes filmed while Grace was looking in the mirror. It just felt messy and disjointed.

Overall slow, predictable, and tedious. Even if you particularly like horror, there are literally hundreds of films you could watch which are better than this. Makes you wonder which film those that gave it 10 we're watching. I'm sure those reviewers were definitely not part of the film makers, production, or other crew 🙄

It's pretty bad.

[edwardhutchinson · 3/10 · 25 November 2021]

Yeah so the movie is in POV and sometimes it seems like it's going to be OKish but then it's not. Especially the end. It's pretty lame. That's pretty much it.

No exorcism is needed for this possession...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 25 April 2017]

What lured me in to watch "Grace: The Possession" aside from the fact that it is a horror movie, was the movie cover/poster, because it did seem interesting and have some odd, twisted appeal to it. And also the fact that Lin Shaye was in it had some pull as well.

However, it quickly became clear that this movie was going to be one of those movies that make you curl your toes and not sit well with you. Especially so for me. First of all, I am not fond of found footage, which this luckily wasn't. But they had taken it one step beyond that in terms of camera work and made it a point-of-view experience. Are you kidding me? As if the found footage camera work is not questionable, then they had to go beyond that. That approach to the presentation of the movie was just ridiculous and it was almost enough to make me get up and turn off the movie just because of that.

Then lets move on to the storyline. Well, it was as predictable as they come. And it seemed as if the writers had just previously been going through a movie marathon and written the script for "Grace: The Possession" with the impressions of those movies still fresh in mind. Because it lacked originality.

Furthermore, then the movie was frightfully devoid of scares or anything even remotely disturbing or chilling, which is essential for a proper horror movie. "Grace: The Possession" just trotted along on a very generic path on a very generic mission; to be as plain and mundane as possible.

And as a horror movie that doesn't rely on a proper storyline or scares, then at least a proper and impressive special effects repertoire would be to prefer. But no, not here, not with "Grace: The Possession". I will go as far at to stating that it seemed like they actively voted on not to put special effects into the movie. Again, a thing that was lacking from the movie, and dragged it further down.

The acting in the movie was adequate, although it was hardly Lin Shaye's best performance. Then again, she didn't have the lead role, so it wasn't centered on her performance. Alexia Fast, who did have the lead role, was hindered terribly in her performance by the atrocious point-of-view approach the film makers opted for.

If you enjoy a good and proper horror movie, then do yourself a favor and pick another movie, because "Grace: The Possession" is anything but possessed and anything but entertaining.

Bad trailer, Good movie!

[sanjidparvez · 7/10 · 29 October 2014]

The sub-genre of 'Demonic Possession' has become most frequent in recent horror movie releases & most of them turns out average or below average time-wasters. So I was quite skeptical about it, mostly after watching the trailer. The weird thing about this movie is it isn't a found footage flick but the entire film shot on POV format...from the first-person perspective, mostly of a possessed person. Now, as a POV flick with such a common subject matter, surprisingly it still turned out intelligently well made & very decent overall. The reason it works mostly for keeping all things together pretty simple with good cast & characterization and its decent flow or execution of the story.

Instead of that bad trailer that not only gave too much away but also kind of provide a wrong impression about the movie, the trailer for it required to be short & cleverly done, IMO.

The worst movie I've ever seen

[nathanejojo · 1/10 · 20 August 2021]

Jesus Christ, i hate everyone who has anything to do with this movie.

A must watch.

[kiara_cooper · 10/10 · 26 November 2014]

This is the first POV movie I have seen (that hasn't included a video camera anyway). I was a tad skeptical at first given how they had done it, but after the first half an hour I was completely absorbed into the movie. I could feel her emotions and smile at her small victories...

The producers did absolutely wonderfully with this. I fell in love with Grace and I will watch this movie over and over and over just to see her cute little shy moments where she fondles with her dress. I don't like this just for the sake of it being a horror movie. I love it because it pulls you by the hand through Grace's journey. From the beginning where it seems all cute and lovely, like what you would see in one of them teen movies and then slowly but surely, it introduces the horrors, but slowly. It doesn't throw them at you, it entwines you through them and this makes for a fantastic movie. It takes a lot for me to want to watch a horror a second time - this is definitely worth the watch.

Powerful POV ending

[begob · 7/10 · 30 November 2014]

The best horror of 2014.

The POV camera is more than a gimmick, and really comes into its own in the final conflict.

This is a simple story of possession, with stock elements of religious repression and a cruel grandmother. There is a dark secret to do with sex, which is revealed at about 60 min and isn't unexpected.

The POV technique gives an engaging insight into the heroine. I imagine this was real difficult for the director and actress to get right, but they succeeded. The only draw back is you don't get to see much of the beautiful actress. Also I thought a couple of scenes were prudish - I'm sure they thought hard about the POV, but it should give a full experience.

None of the characters from the college scenes appears later on (apart from one hallucination), so that's a problem with the structure of the story.

The real strength is the new angle on the exorcism rite, and the shock of the demon taking control. Makes for a powerful ending.

Amazed only a few hundred have rated this movie, and more amazed they rated it so low.

7/10 - for a horror, that's top marks.

POV, the worst possible way to shoot a movie.

[deloudelouvain · 3/10 · 29 December 2019]

POV or point of view or call it whatever you want, it's something I will never get why you would want to shoot a movie like that. I can't stand that first person view, the only time I can stand it is when I play a first person shooter game on my console. In a movie it's just a technique that doesn't work. In fact I never saw a good movie made like that and I watch a lot of movies. The story itself is also pretty lame. When I read possession in the title I imagine immediately things like in the classic The Exorcist (1973) from William Friedkin. In that movie Linda Blair gave the best possessed performance ever and the special effects for that time were pretty good and special. For this movie, made in 2014 by the way, the special effects are laughable. It's not even a matter of budget as I'm sure any kid with a bit of technology knowledge can do better nowadays. As a horror it was also laughable. I could watch this movie on Halloween in the middle of the woods, alone at night, and still it wouldn't have any effect on me. It's boring, not scary, and the POV is boring as hell to watch. The acting was okay though, but that's about it.

A Surprisingly Welcome POV Horror

[gavin6942 · 13 October 2014]

This is the story of Grace (Alexia Fast), an orphan whose mother died in childbirth and a father she never knew. These are her experiences in her college days and the terrible things that happen soon after.

Up front, it must be said that this "Grace" has nothing to do with the film "Grace" from 2009 starring Jordan Ladd. This shared title is unfortunate, as it will likely confuse horror fans. On the plus side, this is probably the better of the two films, so if the two are going to be inevitably compared, at least it will be favorable.

Viewers should be warned that this is a POV film, shot from the vision of Grace. Now, to be clear, it is not found footage and is not supposed to be a camera filming -- it is merely what Grace's eyes see during different events, including tug of war, meaning we only ever see the title character if she looks in a mirror. (The mirror moments provide for some interesting camera tricks, and whether they are practical or not are a good feat.) Besides the mirrors, another interesting element is that even dreams are from Grace's point of view. And these are terrifying, realistic dreams.

As much as POV can generally be a hindrance, or even annoyance, director Jeff Chan was clever enough to take it in some new directions here and should be complimented on his efforts. (The drinking scene is reminiscent of The Prodigy's music video for "Smack My B* Up", in a good way.) The POV even pays off later on, with a slight twist that may be the most clever of all. (Unfortunately, it would be impossible to reveal that plot point, so you will just have to watch and see.) We also get some better than average possession effects, including burns, vomiting blood and the loss of teeth. The scares grow as the film moves along, and the suspense is built up quite nicely.

In a supporting role, we have Joel David Moore as a deacon and youth group leader, which is a much more serious role than he is known for playing in such films as "Dodgeball" and "Hatchet". In the second half, he becomes the object of Grace's questionable affections. In some ways, this is the most troubling and gets into the dangerous territory of priests and sex.

Another supporting role has Lin Shaye as an ultra-religious grandmother (or foster mother). Shaye has been a horror staple at least since "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and she is fine form here, even if her role is rather small.

Is this worth checking out? Yes. While maybe not the hit of the year, it is not a film that should be going under the radar and it would be great to see where Alexia Fast goes next. (She is already carving a nice horror niche with films including "Fido" and "Last Kind Words", not to mention her appearance on "Masters of Horror".)

Unintentionally hilarious

[PsychoBeard666 · 4/10 · 15 October 2021]

A POV possession is a great premise but they severely missed the mark here.

The acting is atrocious and cheesy and I laughed at most of it.

Don't bother.

Graceless waste of time

[gurumaggie · 1/10 · 16 August 2021]

Dull by the numbers hallmark possession film, I had bigger scares counting the clichés in this.

It's biggest crime is taking a good cast and boring us with a script that couldn't scare the skin off a rice pudding, utter rubbish.

Boring

[royeighmey · 3/10 · 1 June 2020]

This movie just didn't do it for me. I found the pov aspect didn't do the movie any favors, other than maybe the last 10 minutes or so. The movie was very slow but I pushed on to the end, and the pay off was pretty good. 3 stars because the lead up to the end was a waste of time.

fairly decent

[eltatnell · 5/10 · 20 August 2021]

Wasn't terrible, but the first half was better than the second. The whole exorcism bit felt a bit overplayed and took away from the eeriness of the film.

PERFECT IF YOU NEED MOTIVATION TO END IT ALL

[vincedc · 1/10 · 19 July 2021]

I don't get why anyone would want to watch a POV movie. This is, by far, the best (worst) example of why you shouldn't do it. The director belongs in jail. Blair Witch Project was a one-off. A freak of nature and something I couldn't stomach. Basically, Grace is a few million dollars wasted. I couldn't even find it on Box Office Mojo. All I felt was frustration for about 99 % of it. POV should only be used for effect in a scene here in there. And sparingly. Like a bad acid trip, for example. You cast a beautiful actress and only show her once in a while in a mirror? Come on! That camera should have been all over her. Respect your demographic (14 yo boys) and exploit that girl to the max. Any decent producer would have insisted on it. I won't even mention the lame, tired script and clumsy mise-en-scene. The priest nonsense at the end was unbearable. Ignore the positive reviews here. A typically bad Canadian movie where personality and smooth talkers get government funding and not ability or talent. Watch only if you really need a reason to take a step off that ledge.

Better than first expected... pleasantly surprised.

[Magix11 · 7/10 · 8 February 2015]

OK, so ill begin by saying this isn't perfect. In face far from it. I had been looking to watch this movie for a while after seeing its trailer, and I'm incredibly glad I gave it a shot. The POV aspect to the movie really gave it a unique feel to it. sort of like the movie Maniac, I felt like I was watching through the eyes of the possessed.

A few scenes I felt weren't necessary to the story line. Such as the scenes in the College and the classes were sort of un-needed and some of Grace's hallucinations were very un-necessary.

The scares in this movie were not as generic as I thought they would be. When first seeing this film I thought they'd be. Some of the scares were longer than brief and kept me with my hands covering my eyes for a short period of time. The scares were added well with the story too.

Lets turn to the acting. This film itself contained some familiar actors/actresses, but also a few that i have never seen before. Alexia Fast plays Grace in this movie and really gives a strong performance, a lot more pressure went onto her when filming due to her having to look in the same directions as the cameras were moving, so for that i would give her credit. she did a brilliant job changing from good to evil throughout the film, and showed great emotion in her performance. Lin Shaye did a brilliant job of playing Helen (the religious grandma), and i felt like her performance matched the way she performed in Ouija (2014), i would not go as far as to say she was as good as her character in Insidious (2011). which I'd say is her career defining performance.

Overall I would say this is a very basic possession movie, with the addition of the POV aspect which i think worked incredibly well.

7/10

I would rate lower than 1

[beatriceweager · 1/10 · 17 August 2021]

Worst attempted 'horror' movie ever. The girl keeps itching her clothes why? So cringe worthy and bad acting.

An Underrated Gem

[solojere · 9/10 · 26 June 2021]

I went into this film with low expectations, and after having just watched it, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and it defiantly deserves higher than a 4.9 rating. Grace: The Possession uses the POV angle in new and exciting ways. I don't want to give anything away as I think this film, like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, is better to go in blind. However, I will say that there was never a dull moment. I would also add that this is more of a thriller than a horror. I mean, there are defiantly horror elements within the narrative, but overall it's more of a thriller as the viewer tries to figure out what exactly is happing to grace. Overall the cast is pretty good. Lin Shaye from the Insidious movies is in this as the creepy old Grandma, which seems like perfect casting. Joel David Moore was also a good choice as the aspiring priest Alexis Knapp was the one actor who could have used a little more screen time. She is basically just there to be eye candy and the rival girl as she is in a skimpy outfit and talking about sex or getting high in all of her scenes. And as the story progresses, it becomes clear that her character is kind of pointless, which is sad because she is a great actor. So with that said, it's not a perfect film, but defiantly worth watching.

Spoilers follow ...

[parry_na · 7/10 · 13 October 2016]

Alexia Fast plays Grace, a virginal, sweet, repressed girl who may or may not be in the possession of a demon. At first, her induction into college is trouble free, but what with hallucinations of death, feinting spells, nightmares and an inability to truly 'fit in' (despite her best efforts), she is soon taken back to her home, and her puritanical, purse-lipped grandmother who has long since been her Guardian. Poor Grace is barked at, shouted at, talked down to, bullied and ordered around against her will, before the inner evil she carries is let out in a climactic finale which exposes the reasons for the demon's mission of retribution. What sets this apart from virtually every other horror film I've seen is that everything is seen from Grace's point-of-view: we are her eyes, we see first-hand how she is treated, we feel her pain. At first, this threatens to be a clumsy way of story-telling (the only times we actually see Grace is in her reflection in mirrors, the rest of Fast's performance – apart from vocal – is the nervous ringing of her hands and fiddling with her dress to demonstrate unease), but very soon, we have become used to this painstakingly achieved way of telling a solid possession story.

The cast are great. Apart from the excellent Fast, there is Lin Shaye as the shrew of a Grandmother (herself an outcast from her fellow church-goers) and Alan Dale as Father John, the man ultimately responsible for all that is happening. His drowning in holy water is too mild a punishment for him.

The exorcism at the end, where effects come to the fore, still being shown from Grace's POV, nearly lapses into cartoon CGI, but manages to avoid that before an 'Exorcist (1973)'-style denouement.

DREADFUL

[juliewillemsenonline · 2/10 · 2 August 2021]

Do not waste your time. This crappy POV film is not worth watching. I made it to the end, but only because I was playing a game whilst it was on. It is pathetic. Joel David Moore was good, but he always is. Poor Lin Shaye was playing such a one dimensional character she had no hope.

Give this one a miss !