Grave Encounters (2011) review

(9/10)

Ever been through a haunted house? If you would have documented it, then you would have something similar to this on film.

PLOT:This new paranormal investigation TV show entitled "Grave Encounters" starts to show some pontential running its sixth episode, which takes place at an abandoned mental hospital which is said to be haunted. Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson) and his crew decide to do a lock-in to investigate the supposedly-haunted hospital, though the crew has weaseled their way through show business in a fake way. When they actually start to get some hard evidence that ghosts exist and that this place is haunted, strange, scary, and confusing things begin to happen that try to drive our team into madness. It's a good plot idea to make a movie about that's executed very well.

ACTING:For this independent horror, the acting was great! I felt the fear and saw the insanity in these characters' personas. The shiners were Sean Rogerson as Lance, Merwin Mondesir as T.C. Gibson, Mackenzie Gray as Houston Gray, and Ashleigh Gryzko as Sasha Parker.



SCORE:There was little to no score, but of what there was, it was pretty ominous.

EFFECTS:You can tell just about all of the effects are done with computers, my best guess being Adobe After Effects, but the ghosts and their faces are pretty scary looking in the end. It's like looking up the demon face trend on YouTube. The blood effects aren't half bad either, though they look like cherry jell at times. Compared to most low-budget horrors these days, the effects were pretty well done.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie was a very entertaining horror ride! It was scary, intense, fun, and seemingly neverending. The whole experience is like being stuck inside a haunted house attraction with no emergency exits or ways to get out. Thrilling! My only problem I found with this movie is that in it's most confusing parts, it can become unreasonably silly. It's insane and illogical with no real reason! But then I start to think, ghosts are illogical as well, so it isn't that bad.

OVERALL,an awesome indie horror with a well-executed plot, great horror acting, little ominous score, well done computer effects, and the feel of an ultimate thrill ride, though it came off as silly during the confusing bits.