Grace (2014) Reviews

• A must watch.

  kiara_cooper2014-11-26

  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.

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• Bad trailer, Good movie!

  sanjidparvez2014-10-29

  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.

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• A Surprisingly Welcome POV Horror

  gavin69422014-10-13

  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".)

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• Surprisingly good

  smoke02014-11-01

  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...

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• Powerful POV ending

  begob2014-11-30

  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.

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