Review of Grave Encounters (2011) by Nobod3 — 17 Feb 2012

I just watched this and I don't agree with any of the reviews currently on here. This movie was not a complete disaster, but it wasn't the best thing I've ever seen before. However, if you are a fan of those ghost hunting TV shows and some of the mansion/asylum horror movies that came out in the last 10 years (House on Haunted Hill comes to mind), then watch this movie. Its actually a really good combination of the two with some problems. Below are my lists of positives and negatives for the film.

PLEASE NOTE: POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!

Positives:

+The set-up was perfect, the way they tour the asylum and mention spots was just spot on.

+Its resembles the TV Show Ghost Hunters, which really gives it that reality kick.

+The characters are a wide range and make it interesting.

+The location (Insane Asylum) was perfect for this type of movie.

Neutral.

=I would have liked to have seen some more characters, its just not a big enough cast to really get there.

=I'm disappointed that this was made with no view of a sequel in mind with a common character.

=I would have liked to have seen a bigger play on the asylum aspect, like at this time of day they'd unlock all doors or a dinner bell rings at this time. Something to really make the environment come more alive.

=This one I almost considered a negative, but I would have LOVED to have seen the crew find files from the doctor showing what he did and his patients, again really playing up that this is a mental asylum. Kind of play on the Session 9 deal where this was once a working asylum. I would have loved to also have seen this type of stuff found throughout the film, like we start with a patient and a really nice sounding doctor and then as it goes on, we learn what he's doing to the patient and makes him seem sinister. The fact that this is totally skipped sort of loses the thrill of what could have been.

Negatives.

-The ending is beyond predictable (though some of the steps along the way aren't so easily predictable).

-It goes too far into the paranormal instead of trying to tie the line between reality and paranormal (IE crazy bloody patients, I would have preferred more subtle scare tactics).

-Less cheap scares (the hands on the walls in the one scene, the constant "its a bad patient" thing, and what not.

-Sometimes they just skip explaining, which kills the mood.

-The movie projects over too big of an area to actually get all of the original things just right.

-The ending fails to show how the cameras were picked up, kind of like a well-needed wrap-up instead of the "Just expect they were found" that we got.

-No characters survive, so they've basically kills all good sequel plots since we'd have to get a new crew.

Conclusion.

Just to rehash what I said, this isn't a terrible film and it isn't a great one, but it does have moments that are worth seeing and it was a good concept that just went a little too far out of hand.