Grave Encounters (2011)

Grave Encounters, brought to us by the young Vicious Brothers, is not the pinnacle of Haunted House Horror. Neither is it pushing any new boundaries in that particular sub-genre, but does it need to? Here's a film made expressly for those that are prepared to invest completely in the viewing experience, to do as my lady partner and I did, turn off all the main lights, light a couple of candles for ambiance, switch the phone off and turn the volume up on the TV. Scene set, helps, too, that my lady is like a cat on a hot tin roof with a film like this, puts me on edge, love it, in fact we both love this sub-genre, it's our favourite. Gore and torture bores me, I want things that go bump in the night and things that suddenly jump out and make me jump. Grave Encounters does this exceptionally well; but I invested fully, I'm not over analysing it or sitting there comparing it to films released previously, and I'm certainly not one of those who deliberately sits there determined not to be scared. And yes! There are many out there who do that, a test of toughness maybe?

Grave Encounters has problems, without a doubt. As with many other films of the type, dumb decisions are made by characters, one particular character is actually too over the top during the preliminary set-up, and a couple of scenes involving hands and a rat are badly placed within. However, it's a pant soiler because it's great at the scare tactics, is deftly paced by the Vicious boys and unfurled in the atmospherically perfect setting of a Mental Asylum. As characters wander off into darkened corridors or peer off into the gloom, if you are invested fully you will feel the dread, your body slowly sinking in your set, your nails ripe for chewing. Or are you someone sitting there with arms folded fully expecting a jolt? Or maybe humming a tune in your head so as to make sure the mood isn't right? If you are expecting something new in this field of horror, you are always going to be disappointed.

Session 9, a brilliant and intelligent movie from 2001, went the other way, set in an Asylum it chose psychological scares and atmospherics instead of boo jumps, yet looking at reviews and message boards for that one you see many moaning about boredom. Recently Insidious and The Woman In Black, the former tried to bring a new astral aspect to the formula and got slated for it, the latter kept it traditional and got accused of bringing nothing new to the table! Maybe, just maybe, these films are better left to Haunted House fans who are willing to invest their being into the experience? Only then can Grave Encounters be a rewarding time. The rest of the horror faithfuls can keep searching in vain for something new in the formula for the next twenty years or so.

Thank you Vicious boys, the missus and I had a right old scary time with your movie. Now about my laundry bill..... 8/10

Fmovies: I had kind of high expectations on "Grave Encounters" all the good IMDb reviews promised an entertaining docu-style film. Every time when this found footage stuff becomes popular again a whole flood of uncreative films like this were made to make money out of the hype.

While "Troll Hunter" is doing a great job with his fresh idea "Grave Encounters" is just boring. Around 2000 during the "Blair Witch" hype there was a film called "St. Francisville Experiment" it was basically the same. Same story, a group of people and a scary house. Was not good at all but people who give "Grave Encounters" such an high rating would maybe enjoy this one too.

While the beginning and the creepy house in "Grave encounters" is enjoyable the ghost is not. If you've seen other found footage flicks before, you'll know what happens next before it happens. It makes me a bit angry that because of this found footage hype the film get such good ratings here. Saying it is better than "REC" and the scariest film ever is just wrong.

Found Footage shouldn't be an excuse for stupid acting, bad script and remaking one story again and again. I've seen worse on the technical side but this one makes me angry because of it's uncreativity.

• minor spoilers now - It's also a bit annoying that the camera-mans language is limited to the word "fuck" and the girl cries all the time. The people were freaking out way too early and acting like teenagers. Well, maybe if you are a teenager you can enjoy this one with your girlfriend.

OK, i took all the steps: turned off the light, closed the curtain, turned off my phone and sat alone to watch this supposedly shocking horror flick. I don't know if it's just me, judging by all the reviews giving it from 8/10 to 10/10, but this movie didn't even come close to scaring me.

So, what's the problem? Well, in the beginning this fancy fella was telling me that the footage i'm going to see is genuine and 100% real, which WE ALL KNOW IT ISN'T, and after that i entered the gloomy asylum with the rest of the 'crew'. To be honest, the asylum was gloomy, eerie, and was great for the setting of the premise, BUT... they had to ruin it with rarely poor acting. And the acting was indeed very poor, especially that of Sean Rogerson.

Further on, the tremendous dark atmosphere of the asylum was, as i already said, healthy ground for developing a huge horror movie, but all we have a chance to see are cheap jump scares, and not a big number of those either. The movie just wasn't enough suspense, hell, it wasn't even suspense at all. Most of the scenes are fairly predictable, and there was a moment in which i wanted to turn off the movie and bin it, but i held on just to see if something would happen that could change my opinion of the movie. It didn't.

The visuals are very good, but the sound effects are just too much. Poor acting, lack of good scares and extremely annoying Sean Rogerson have a 3/10 from me.

Grave Encounters fmovies. Films don't scare me. I've seen em all. Found footage, Japanese disturbia, schlock horror, et al et al.

I can quite honestly say that this scared the c**p out of me and my daughter. It has almost a stop-motion feel, many scenes were reminiscent of the Metz Judderman advert (which is probably the best ad ever :P).

I jumped, I screamed, I hid my eyes. Nothing more I can add really, as that to me is the epitome of good horror, well done.

No real unique story (psychiatric hospital) no unique ideas (ghosthunters, blair witch) but a totally unique take on being petrified. Kudos. Seriously.

Watch it (with the lights out) before you believe any of the negative reviews. It's a horror great in my book.

I was sceptical before i saw this movie, it represents a team of show makers who are sleeping in a supposedly haunted house. They act very poorly and unconvincingly as show hosts, but once the scary stuff starts, their acting becomes really believable, i mean, REALLY.

The movie starts out slow, the first 1/3th or 1/4th is just plain talking and normal stuff, so it can be a little boring, but after that, the movie takes an entire new turn. Please do yourself a favor and watch through the first 1/3, which is the boring tough part, you will reap the rewards later.

Its a very good movie, well worth a watch.

I watch horror movies on a weekly basis and frankly I have grown tired of all the latest trends in horror films. Most of them consist of two hours of screaming while attractive, hormonally-charged young students get brutally tortured by disfigured hillbillies. Yawn. The 'cringe' factor is not entertainment. Who wants to spend money on a movie you can't bare to watch?

Geared with low expectations and a bowl of popcorn I decided to give Grave Encounters a go. Anticipating a minimal scare factor,I didn't think twice about watching it by myself. However, as the film progressed I started locking doors, switching on lights and making arbitrary phone calls to take the edge off. The combination of hand-held camera work,limited lighting and incredibly frightening ghosts had me looking over my shoulder for hours after watching it.

Surprisingly the unfamiliar actors and actress had me gripped in a tense and realistic chasm of emotions, especially Ashleigh Gryzko's believable performance. This film has the cinematographic suspense of Paranormal Activity 3 and will leave you on the edge of your seat up until the very end.

Give it a try... go on.