Film Review - Grave Encounters

The lost footage format is getting more than a little stale these days, but the trailer for this looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a go. It doesn't start well, the whole producer spiel at the beginning is pointless and made me think I'd made a mistake. Once the actual 'episode' started it improved a little, but nothing special. The premise is that it is a lost episode for a reality TV ghost hunter show, the beginning background stuff is ok, there's some humour and background laying, the cynicism of the crew sets them up for the later fall.

They are investigating an old mental institution with a macabre history, again the background is nothing special, but solid enough. Once things get going I again had a moment of doubt, yes there were some creepy moments, but for the most part it is the typical shock of things moving, although there were a couple of nice touches.

For the last third of the film it really gets going and becomes more of a traditional horror and has some lovely scary moments. It also takes things a bit further than a lot of this type of film which was good to see.

Overall I'd recommend it as a horror film worth watching, you have to bear with it a bit, but once it gets going it makes up for the shaky start.

Lance Preston and 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. They find themselves lost in a labyrinth maze of endless hallways and corridors, terrorized by the ghosts of the former patients. They soon begin to question their own sanity, slipping deeper and deeper into the depths of madness, ultimately discovering the truth behind the hospital's dark past...and taping what turns out to be their final episode.

Grave Encounters is available from Amazon (and is worth a watch)