Wordiezett
So much average
Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Nigel P
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.
Desertman84
Grace: The Possession is a film told from the devil's point of view.It stars the gorgeous Alexia Fast,the sexy siren who seduced Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher,as the Grace,a beautiful college freshman that appears to be naive about the real world.But apparently,she appears to be possessed by devil,who has complete control of her mind and body.After an incident happens at the university where Grace is attending during a party,her grandmother takes her under her care and tries to seek the help of priests to free her from the devil's spell before things really get out of hand for Grace.Alexis Knapp,Brett Dier,Joel David Moore,Clarke Peters and Alan Dale co- star with Alexa while Jeff Chan was the director of the film.The film was definitely original as it was told from the devil's point of view as I have mentioned in the previous paragraph.The viewer may somehow have to adjust watching it as we see the camera moving in an awkward way wherein it focus towards to the character while speaking.Aside from depriving us of the virginal beauty of Alexa for most part of the film,the way the director shot the film proved to be somewhat more of a distraction to the viewer especially when some scenes are shot incoherently and the camera gets shaky from time to time.As far as the story goes,there was nothing original as it was clichéd and predictable.What also bother me is it is somewhat subtly has anti-Catholic themes as it shows that Catholics including priest and deacons are helpless against the devil.Although it was pointed out that the grandmother is somewhat being punished after she left the church,it still could not hide the fact that the film portrays them to be absolutely helpless no matter how great their relationship is with the Lord.Finally,too bad that the movie wasn't adventurous enough to show something new story wise since what will be featured is something that one have already seen in other movies of the same genre.
Claudio Carvalho
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")
gavin6942
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".)