Review of Grave Encounters (2011) by Blythe H — 09 Mar 2012

Lance: This place is about as haunted as a sock drawer. .

"They were searching for proof... they found it".

Grave Encounters is a rather gimmicky horror film. More so than the average found footage horror film. With that I said, I can say that I enjoyed it. It was a fun little movie that used its predecessors like Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity for material. .

I really liked the tongue in cheek parody beginning of the movie. Grave Encounters is the name of the ghost hunting tv show that goes investigating an insane asylum. The Vicious Brothers throw a lot of great little jokes into the beginning and really make it fun for anyone who has sat through a Ghost Hunters tv show. Then the ghost hunters go inside the asylum for what they believe will be another easy and uneventful night of taping. For awhile, that is all they think it is. Then things begin to change and soon they come to see that the paranormal is all too real.

I really enjoyed the first hour of this film, but it definitely began to drag in that last half hour. That last half hour was when it began to get extremely gimmicky too. While the first part focused more on atmosphere and little movements caught on camera; the last part decided to show the ridiculous. The ghosts looked terrible and some of the other jump scares I won't mention left a lot to be desired. The Vicious Brothers must not believe, like the makers of Blair Witch, that its scarier when some stuff is left to the viewers own mind.

Still, this is a lot better than you would first expect. I liked the premise, I liked the humor, and I liked the cast. All in all, it's worth a look just to see a parody of those godawful ghost television shows.