Dir: The Vicious Brothers (Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz)
GRAVE ENCOUNTERS opens with a word from executive producer Jerry Hartfield (Ben Wilkinson) that what we are about to watch is real. Jerry explains that Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson HARPER'S ISLAND), creator of the television series Grave Encounters, was filming episode six of the reality / ghost busting series for his company when something went horribly wrong. His company edited down the hours and hours of footage but otherwise didn't touch or enhance the footage. It's all real people!
Yes! It's a found footage / haunted house film. I really enjoyed this plot in the TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode TELEVISION TERROR from 1990. And a plot only gets better the more time you see it, right? Right?
Lance and his ghost busting crew, camera woman Sasha (Ashleigh Gryzko), tech guy Matt (Juan Riedinger) and cameraman T.C. (Merwin Mondesir) are shooting the episode at the Collingwood psychiatric hospital in Maryland. Closed since 1963, the hospital was headed by a doctor with a love for lobotomies who died at the hands of his patients. After filming the locals commenting on their spooky experiences, the crew and special guest psychic Houston (Mackenzie Gray) are locked inside to spend the next eight hours wandering the darkened corridors looking for ghosts.
And of course they find some ghosts.
Competently shot and featuring all the de rigueur jump scares, GRAVE ENCOUNTERS is yet another passable entry into an over crowded sub genre. The acting and writing are fine for this type of film but I tire of watching people walking down dark hallways while shakily holding a night vision camera. If it's more of the same you are looking for then seek out GRAVE ENCOUNTERS.
A sequel was released in 2012.
** out of ****
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