Movie Review: Grave Encounters

Synopsis: The crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night and begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize that the building is more than just haunted - it is alive - and it has no intention of ever letting them leave. Ultimately they discover the truth behind the hospital's dark past... and tape what turns out to be their final episode.



This starts out like an episode of the TV shows Ghost Hunters mixed with Paranormal State, then takes a turn towards the movies Paranormal Activity meets House on Haunted Hill with a dash of Session 9. So yeah, it's mostly been done before for sure... old psychiatric hospital, locked in for the night, hunting ghosts... etc. But there's a bit of originality here still in the delivery and it provides are some good jump scares in the later half after a slow set-up.



One thing I think that sort of turned me off a bit though was instead of keeping thing a bit less revealing and creepy (or one might even say a bit more believable) it becomes a lot more over-the-top and sensational towards the end. It does lead to some good jumps and such but it also sort of makes it a whole different type of film really I thought. I guess it depends on whether you like the subtle and creepy stuff or prefer demons fully manifesting and chasing people down hallways. I like both, but I'd prefer to see one or the other in my movie.



The acting is OK, the direction is solid and the location and atmosphere are fantastic. Overall it's very entertaining.



7/10