Grave Encounters came out in 2011, at the height of the ghost-hunting media galore.
Making fun of the many, mannnyyyy broadcasts depicting terrible acting in abandoned places, their then crew accidentally stumble onto a « real » haunted place.
In true found footage fashion, we follow the characters as they plan everything out, discovering how rigged everything is in the process… They pay the gardener to tell a story and hire a fake psychic to regurgitate the death told by the historian earlier with a morose tone. It’s making fun of how gullible we are with this type of content.
This is a low budget movie that made a name for itself and even spawned a sequel. It quickly became a cult classic in the found footage universe, making fun of the Zak Bagans of the world.
A nod to the horror genre
We follow Lance Preston and his team, as they reach an insane asylum for the 6th episode of their ghost hunting show.
Lance, much like many of the other actors in the genre, is a bit egotistical and makes all the wrong decisions for his team. Separating them, giving dumb orders, and clearly playing favorites while always being the center of attention.
Grave Encounters is a nice little mix between The blair witch project, American ghost-hunting shows and House on Haunted Hill. For that last one, I’m thinking mainly about the remake…
With Dr Vannacutt and the camera looking up in the basement mid-procedure on a « patient »..
Everyone in the team dies one by one, leaving only Lance in the end to try and find a way out… only to be greeted by a surprise lobotomy.
Where the budget shows
Look I’m going to be honest, the visual effects aren’t the best, but that can be excused by the low budget. Same with the audibly Canadian accents, as the real building is located in Canada, when it’s supposed to take place in the USA.
But the thing that bugs me the most are the deaths. TC’s death is fine, and works well, same with Matt after what he’s been through..
But Houston’s demise was underwhelming.
It’s the first one of the movie and it’s just mid-air strangling ? Soooo much could have happened.
He could have been kidnapped, or, as the asylum jumped his backpack could have disappeared to let us know something was up… Hell he could have been « outlasted » and dismembered. It must have cost more, but still. It would have been more entertaining.
And Sacha… the spirits were clearly after her from the get go. And she just vanished in the smoke ?
Did they just run out of budget by this point ? It felt lackluster for her character’s arc.
If this was really the reason, then they should have put her in the nurse outfit in the end, with Lance recognizing her and trying to reach out only for her to be fully consumed by the ghosts and help with his procedure.
It would have at least been… something.
All in all, the movie is solid, and I may have rewatched it more times than I care to tell. It’s so much better than its sequel. Give it a go if you like ghost stories that poke fun at bad acting.
My rating : 4/5 bats
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