Review of Grave Encounters (2011) by Andrew D — 02 Mar 2013

Grave Encounters is a strange film to talk about. It follows the crew for a paranormal investigation TV show that's going inside of an old asylum to investigate paranormal activity. However, they get more than they wanted when the activity becomes more and more intense.

Going into this, I wasn't expecting much. It looked like it would be another found-footage film that wanted to be the next Paranormal Activity. Happily, I can say that this film is better than Paranormal Activity, but there's still some problems with it.

For one thing, this film is loaded with cliches. From no cell phone reception to the classic "I'll be right back" line, this film's got all the cliches that horror has come to know. Also not working for the film is the fact that the acting gets pretty poor, especially when the ghosts start popping up.

Each performance just got really painful after the first 15 minutes of paranormal activity. Fortunately, there's some good in this film as well. I really liked the fact that there was some good suspense in this film.

Unlike Paranormal Activity which relied on moving objects to say if something is scary, there are NUMEROUS hallways in the building that the team is investigating. You never know when one of the creepy ghouls will pop up next.

Overall, Grave Encounters is a creepily good time if you're in the mood for a horror movie. There's tons in this film that you've already seen before, but there's also some fresh scares in here that easily balances it out.