GRACE: THE POSSESSION (2014)
Jeff Chan’s horror tries to do something novel by telling his possession tale from the demon’s point of view, but the idea never really works and just creates a non-camera POV movie where it isn’t needed. The film tells of 18 year-old Grace (Alexia Fast) a young woman coming of age who lives with her strict religious grandmother (Lin Shaye) after her single mom (also Fast) dies during childbirth. Due to the nature of her conception…a reveal later on…there is a demon that want’s to corrupt the shy girl. What follows is basically just a routine possession flick told from the eyes of the demon within, though it could just be Grace’s eyes as nothing clever is ever done with the concept. It also wears out it’s welcome long before the film ends. Even as a possession flick, it’s nothing new or particularly scary and is actually slow going for a 90 minute movie. I appreciate trying something different, but then do something different with it. Routine and dull. Also stars The Guest’s Joel David Moore as a young priest taken with the pretty Grace.
DEVIL’S PASS (2013)
Renny Harlin (NOES4, Prison) returns to his horror roots with this fact-based found footage tale of a group of US college students trying to discover the fate of a team of Russian hikers, who all died mysteriously during an expedition into the Ural mountains in 1959. As written by Vikram Weet, there are some good ideas here, but after an intriguing set-up, the film goes completely over-the-top for it’s final act. Not only is that final act filled with elements from a dozen X-Files episodes, but drags in elements from another supposed factual incident, as well. Some of it is still interesting, but going from a subtle mystery to an out-of-control adventure better fitting Mulder and Scully, is jarring and we get some truly awful CGI that totally undermines the impact of what it is supposed to represent. An intriguing and well-made effort that ultimately sinks itself under the weight of it’s own ambitions and the epic fail of it’s CGI artists. A case where an ambiguous ending may have been more effective than the idea overload we get.
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