thelastblogontheleft Grave Encounters is part of a long line of "found footage" horror movies — honestly, one of my favorite subgenres. It was The Vicious Brothers' (a directing duo comprised of Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz) first horror film and Minihan's feature film debut. I've now seen this movie three times and I still think it's pretty freaking great.It opens with the producer of a fairly new ghost hunting show, Grave Encounters, explaining how the crew went missing while filming their sixth episode at Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital. ** SPOILERS! **I really loved the whole fake ghost hunters aspect of the plot. They absolutely NAILED it, too — they were so obviously inspired by Ghost Adventures, it was amazing. I think I would have liked this part less if they had been super serious, dedicated ghost hunters… but the fact that they were really just in it for the quick, easy buck made it much more entertaining. They were going into this asylum fully expecting to hear maybe a few bumps in the night, a few funny noises they could explain as legit EVPs, and filling the rest of the screen time with "arty" hallway shots and spooky music. The main investigator, Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson), even pays the gardener to make up a ghost story just to pad their narrative. So it makes it that much more shocking when they realize just how much activity is going on in the hospital.I thought the actors were, for the most part, very natural and convincing. Sasha (Ashleigh Gryzko) drove me a little nuts, but I really liked everyone else, especially Lance (who was the perfect diva of a lead investigator) and T.C. (Merwin Mondesir).The jump scares in this film are plentiful and honestly do get a bit cheesy at times. Unless we're talking about killer special effects, I am almost always going to be more of a fan of the more subtle scare. That being said… I've seen this movie several times now and a few scenes STILL made me jump (and I was still scanning every still shot just waiting for something to move or come crashing down). It helps that I LOVE those dang ghost hunting shows.Ultimately, I was more of a fan of the less in-your-face scares — a door closing unexpectedly, Matt finding the window open when he's picking up the static cameras, the abandoned wheelchair moving as T.C. was distracted on the phone. There are several scenes where we have a ghostly apparition rushing towards the camera with a distorted, ink black mouth (literally at least three times) and, well, that gets old after a while. There are also things like a hand punching through a window to grab Sasha, or a whole mess of arms coming through the walls and ceiling (is this where V/H/S got the idea?), that just felt a bit cheesy to me and not really in line with the typical ghost encounters (though I didn't hate when Houston got lifted off the ground and choked by a spirit, or the figure pulling T.C. into the blood-filled tub).But the biggest selling point for this movie? The entire concept that the BUILDING KEEPS CHANGING AROUND THEM. The first time I saw it I remember gasping SO LOUDLY when they first break the front doors open with the empty gurney and just see more hallway on the other side. They try to convince themselves that maybe they somehow got turned around and made home base somewhere other than the lobby, but then Sasha sees the same "DEATH AWAITS" on the outside of the door that they had all noted when they came in. Then the realization by Lance that it's 8:30am and it should be light out… laying down to sleep and setting his alarm for an hour and waking up 7 hours later… the food in the cooler being rotted and full of maggots as if it's been in there for days… the roof access leading to a solid wall. UGH.Just the entire idea of being so stuck, so lost, within this one building is so terrifying to me. Every time they go to look for someone, or something, it takes them forever because they keep getting turned around. At one point they just give up because they searched and searched and couldn't even find a stairwell. In one scene they know they've climbed four flights of stairs but they find a map of the building and the "you are here" star insists they're on the first floor. It's maddening even to watch, imagining how hopeless it must feel to know — logically — that there must be a way out, but being unable to find it. Seeing that hours are ticking by but being unable to believe it. TERRIFYING.On top of that, the building just seems to be becoming more and more alive. What starts as a door slamming here or a window closing there turns into there just being nonstop groaning and sick cackling and unearthly growls seeming to come from the hospital itself. There's so much to be afraid of that you can imagine the mind just going numb, unable to process it.I thought the ending was… okay. Maybe a bit predictable, in a way, that they couldn't possibly mention the doctor who had performed lobotomies without him popping up again in some form. But I feel like it worked. There was no possible happy ending to turn it around, and we still have some bit of mystery as far as what the hell DOES happen to Lance after his final sign off besides just wandering the pitch black tunnels in a lobotomized haze?Creepy as HELL, truly, and worth a watch!

view_and_review "Grave Encounters" was a cleverly done found footage film. In this case the found footage was professional unedited footage. "Grave Encounters" is the name of a reality T.V. type program akin to Ghost Hunters. Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson) and his team go from site to site trying to find evidence of the paranormal. Their final venture was to an old abandoned psychiatric ward which is storied to have ghosts.The way this movie is done is just right because Lance does this show but he's a complete skeptic. You can keenly see when the production team's skepticism turns to excitement, then to fear, then despair. The build up was superbly paced. It was scary enough that they were in a pitch dark old building without having freaky stuff happen right away. They did a good job just letting the setting soak in to put the audience on pins and needles. In found footage style the silence helps set the mood as opposed to music as is used in traditional scary movies.I think the acting was dynamite, especially from T.C. (Merwin Mondesir). You really felt that the entire ordeal was getting to him in a major way. I could see myself in his reactions.This was a spooky movie and everything lent to that; the setting, the lack of music, the acting and of course the events that unfolded. It's hard for me to rank this scary movie but it is a good 'un.

rosecalifornia We all do it, you know, play movies in the background while we are doing other things around the home - this is not even worth doing that.After watching the film, you have to wonder how many family, friends and actors from the flicks actually rate these things online.First, the "found footage" films typically follow the same script, so taking that into account with a grain of salt. You actually need something for nausea. Evidently the film makers thought - the more they moved and shoot the camera, the more realistic it would make the film - fail. You quickly get a headache and even dizzy at some points. Zoom in, zoom out, focus, unfocus - repeat literally every two seconds.Note to found footage film makers, even the cheapest cameras now have antishake ..... stop with the shaky cams already.The acting is marginal. You can see the main characters trying very hard to act out everything they know about being - an actor, playing a part, that not technically supposed to be an acting part.The story you can clearly tell is copying ghost adventures...

Michael O'Keefe For Tribeca Films, The Vicious Brothers direct this horror flick about a group of paranormal-investigators trying to boost ratings for their TV show. Lead investigator Lance Preston(Sean Rogerson)is to the point of even paying for fake interviews and evidence. This sixth episode they are filming will take place in a derelict psychiatric hospital. Hoping rumors are true, they should be able to capture things that go bump in the night while the cameras are rolling. The film crew is disappointed that nothing has happened; that they know of. Soon the ghost hunters become the hunted and trapped by lobotomized spirits.The location(in Vancouver, Canada)is eerie, even with the lights on. If you don't scare yourself, there is enough atmosphere and creepy scenes to raise the hair on the back of your neck. Some of the characters get very irritating; but the stars of this reality show don't stay together for long. Surprisingly worth your time.The cast also features: Ashleigh Gryzko, Shawn Macdonald, Ben Wilkinson, Juan Riedinger and Bob Rathie.