Grave Encounters 1 & 2

As I said before, I am a huge fan of the found footage sub-genre of horror. That being said, Grave Encounters is easily my favorite in the genre. It is a tense, creepy, surreal movie that keeps you hooked.

The movie is about a show called Grave Encounters. It is a ghost hunter type show. The host, Lance Preston and his crew head to the Collingswood Institute, a mental institution that has been abandoned for years. They set up cameras and begin their show. It starts off like most ghost hunter type shows, there is a psychic talking about feeling a bad presence, and the crew wanders around the hospital taking photos and doing evp sessions. Suddenly things go wrong. 

They begin seeing apparitions, things start moving on their own, and more. They end up being chased by the spirits in the hospital. I'll stop there, so as not to give anything away.

Overall this movie is very creepy. Movies don't usually creep me out much, but this movie had me so anxious the first time I watched it. The atmosphere is just plain eerie, and the events are extremely tense. What I loved about it is that you see things you wish you would see on ghost hunting/paranormal shows. Highly recommended for fans of found footage and supernatural.

On to the Sequel.....

The sequel plays a bit like Book Of Shadows : Blair Witch 2. Its done as if the first is just a movie. We have Alex Wright, a student film maker and vlogger who has started getting messages from someone going by the name 'Death Awaits'. In following the clues he is given, he learns that Grave Encounters was not just a movie, it really happened. So he and his friends set out to investigate.

Once in the hospital, things start to go similar to the first movie, only with more twists. This one also delves into more information on the hospital and goes a little deeper into why the terrible things are happening in this hospital.

Overall, I was disappointed with part 2. I liked what they were trying to do with it, but it just didn't deliver the way the first one did. The first 3rd of the movie is slow and drags. It's not until they get to the hospital that it starts getting interesting. The second 3rd of the movie is basically recycled things from the first. The final 3rd is when it dives deeper into what is really going on and you learn more about the hospital. This movie wasn't bad, I did like it. It just didn't deliver the way the first one did. It is still worth a watch though. 

I did appreciate the homage to Blair Witch Project seen above. A nice way to pay respect to inspiration.