Found footage films are dime-a-dozen these days, but there are some which truly stand out from the rest in this particular new fascination of horror filmmakers.
Grave Encounters is one such film, which is a nice little ride through the spooks inside a closed psychiatric hospital.
Loosely inspired by the tale of
The House on Haunted Hill (specially the 1999 remake, you will find more than one instance of connections between the two films), it is another low budget effort which shines brightly as a fine example of found-footage filmmaking. Starting off a bit slowly for the first 25-odd minutes, it suddenly comes to life with the televising crew starting to experience the usual groans and bumps in the pitch black darkness after they are locked in for the night. What comes next are a series of turns which make this film novel, and lead to an ending which can be seen coming (hence not entirely unexpected) but leaving a question mark on it's own.
The direction is taut - it could have been slightly better but does pretty damn good with the plotline and the atmosphere. The characters are varied and very believable (unlike the two
Quarantine films which I watched recently), and the cinematography (combining normal camerawork with nightvision sequences) is superb in conveying the bleak, eeriely silent atmosphere of the closed-down hospital. The spooks are nicely merged with the mental breakdown of the crew, as one by one they succumb to the horrors of the place they have found.
All in all, a solid little film which impresses a lot, given the fact that this may have been made on a budget. Definitely watch this one if you are a lover of
PA, [*Rec], etc.
* * * ½