Summary:
A camera crew ventures in to an abandoned mental hospital to film a TV show. Once locked in, mysterious events begin to occur and soon the Cast finds themselves trapped inside the hospital with many vengeful spirits.
Synopsis:
At the beginning of the film we are met by the Television Producer Jerry Hartfield, who introduces the film by telling the interviewers about the show, Grave Encounters. He says that the crew was in the process of filming their sixth episode when things started to get a bit weird. Then, he tells us that the following footage has not been edited and all of the frames are original.
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| Jerry Hartfield |
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| The Walls |
The caretaker leaves the group after they are voluntarily locked inside the institution with chains on the main entrance, thus beginning a filming they would never forget.
They start with filming around the hospital in search for any sort of paranormal activity, but find none until a few hours later when a door behind T.C. slams itself while he is filming. The crew tries to contact the spirits but have no luck, but are then tormented further by more malicious hauntings. T.C. is off on his own again when he receives a call from his wife telling him that his daughter is scared of a monster under her bed. During this time, T.C. puts the camera down and talks on the phone. In the background, you see a wheelchair moving ever so slightly, though not enough to catch the cameraman's attention. Soon after we are brought to the crew trying to communicate again, this time Sasha gets quite a scare. A ghost pulls her hair as she is listening to a voice recording.
This causes the whole team to freak out so they walk back to base (The entrance), and talk to Matt who has been looking over footage the whole time. They catch him up on all that happens and so they decide it is time to leave. The rest of the group sends Matt to collect the cameras they had set up all over the main building. He leaves and we see footage of Matt collecting the cameras one by one, until he reaches a room filled with windows. One of the previously locked windows is opened, and as soon as Matt notices this, he disappears. After a while, the rest of the Grave Encounters Crew takes note of his absence and venture out to search for him while Houston stays at base. With no luck, they return to base and try to figure out a way out of the Institute, and they only do that because T.C. is freaked out after being pushed down the stairs by an unseen entity.
They eventually break through the entrance door only to find that instead of the outside, they are faced with another of the dark hallways. Sasha points out that they are in the correct location because of the words "DEATH AWAITS" are spray-painted on the door they just broke through. Houston picks up the chain that had been used to seal the doors. The Crew then realizes that something messed up is going on.
Lance and the group try to find another exit, but all the other doors have either been walled up or lead to more corridors. They then try to search for Matt and an Exit, but this is stopped when they find a ghostly girl standing in a corner of one of the rooms. When they try to ask her something, she turns around and her face contorts demonically. The group flees, but somehow Houston gets separated. After a while we see Houston scrambling around in the dark, unable to see, and he is maliciously attacked by another unseen force that eventually kills him.
Lance and T.C. find a room that they think is safe so they bring Sasha and decide to rest, hoping that they would wake up and that the sun would be up. The camera is turned on shortly after, where we are met by the face of Lance who tells us that while they were resting, something has happened. The image moves to a very terrified Sasha who is reluctant when the back of her shirt is pulled up to reveal that the word "HELLO" is carved into her back.
After a while, the group finds Matt, who is wearing a hospital uniform and seems to have been driven insane. He mumbles details about his "psychological disorder", and tells the rest of the surviving group members that the only way they could get out is to "get better" by the treatment of the hospital's main physician, Arthur Friedkin. Lance, Sasha, and T.C. then notice that hospital tags bearing their names are now on their wrists.
They run around the hospital being chased by apparitions when they find themselves in a room where they had been informed that a young girl had committed suicide in by slitting her wrists in the bathtub. Lance hears the sound of rushing water, and peers over one of the overturned bathtubs he is behind and sees that the tub is filled with blood. He tells his crew members this and they begin to leave the room when Matt walks over to the bathtub. Lance tells T.C. to go get Matt, and when he does, T.C. is pulled into the tub of blood by the figure of a girl covered in blood. In attempts to save T.C., Lance and Sasha flip the tub only to find that T.C. has disappeared entirely.
After this, Matt, Sasha, and Lance try to find another way out when they come across an elevator that is shut tight. Lance goes off to search for something to pry open the elevator doors when he sees a bloody tongue on the floor. Blood drops compel him to look up and he is met face to face by a tongueless apparition that chases him back to the elevator. Lance picks up the metal bar he acquired and pries open the doors, which attracts the attention of the tongueless ghost who tries to attack them. Lance and Sasha hold the door shut against the ghost, not realizing that Matt is picking up a camera. Matt takes the camera and jumps down the elevator shaft, committing suicide. The ghost leaves and Lance and Sasha realize what Matt did, but with no other choice they climb down the shaft to Matt's body. They take an exit to the underground tunnels, where they walk for days in one direction without finding anything.
At this point, Sasha is not holding well against the forces of the undead and begins to throw up blood. She asks for her Mom, and all Lance can do is hold her to try and comfort her. They walk further into the tunnels with no success. They take a break to rest, and while they sleep, a mysterious fog manifests and takes Sasha away; Lance wakes up and notices Sasha's absence. He continues his trek through the tunnels when he finds a door. The door leads to what seems to be the operating rooms in which Arthur Friedkin had performed his surgeries (his favorite was the lobotomy). Lance stumbles upon what seems to be the ghost of the doctor performing a surgery on an unidentified body. Lance tries to run but trips over what looks like an altar. He then comes across a book, and turns around to see the doctor look right at him when the doctor's own face contorts demonically.
Shortly after a series of screams, we are met once again by Lance's face in the camera. Though, this time, he is bleeding from his left eye which could be evidence of a Lobotomy. He tells everyone that is watching "Screw you!" in a harsh tone. He then says, "He [Friedkin] said I’m all better now. I can finally go home. For Grave Encounters, Lance Preston. Signing off." Then the screen cuts to blue and the film is over.
Review:
Again, this is one of my favorite horror films, but I do have some things to say about the way they filmed it. In the beginning of the movie, I was annoyed by the constant zooming of the camera, but that changed when I got further into the movie. The actors did a fine job of making their roles believable, as their reactions and words made it seem as if the movie had actually happened. This movie also had quite a few good jump-scares, and an over all antagonizing fear-factor that kept me on the edge of my seat. Over all, I give this movie a nine out of ten because the movie was just an enjoyable film to watch.
Citations (In Order):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Grave-Encounters-Poster-2011.jpg
https://fromthemindofmikel.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/grave-encounters.gif
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_q98jNq07B03qTFcfrVuBpJsrrSKY5vrdZs7pYMjzgAUgOetn67qrpM4ROW22Dp6-j9SH367fRoodn9L1cynpMXs7Y_Uf6NJZhjVftT9o8CxREA_vhvWMA5_25aeFtgZTk9swwVTrwT0/s400/1331.jpg
http://spacejockeyreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Grave-Encounters-Sasha-the-Tableau-Rossa.jpghttp://i99.beon.ru/24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m73ldonsmz1qgfw5eo1_400.gif
This causes the whole team to freak out so they walk back to base (The entrance), and talk to Matt who has been looking over footage the whole time. They catch him up on all that happens and so they decide it is time to leave. The rest of the group sends Matt to collect the cameras they had set up all over the main building. He leaves and we see footage of Matt collecting the cameras one by one, until he reaches a room filled with windows. One of the previously locked windows is opened, and as soon as Matt notices this, he disappears. After a while, the rest of the Grave Encounters Crew takes note of his absence and venture out to search for him while Houston stays at base. With no luck, they return to base and try to figure out a way out of the Institute, and they only do that because T.C. is freaked out after being pushed down the stairs by an unseen entity.
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| T.C. and Lance Try to Escape Using a Hospital Bed |
Lance and the group try to find another exit, but all the other doors have either been walled up or lead to more corridors. They then try to search for Matt and an Exit, but this is stopped when they find a ghostly girl standing in a corner of one of the rooms. When they try to ask her something, she turns around and her face contorts demonically. The group flees, but somehow Houston gets separated. After a while we see Houston scrambling around in the dark, unable to see, and he is maliciously attacked by another unseen force that eventually kills him.
Lance and T.C. find a room that they think is safe so they bring Sasha and decide to rest, hoping that they would wake up and that the sun would be up. The camera is turned on shortly after, where we are met by the face of Lance who tells us that while they were resting, something has happened. The image moves to a very terrified Sasha who is reluctant when the back of her shirt is pulled up to reveal that the word "HELLO" is carved into her back.
 | ||
| Sasha's Back |
They run around the hospital being chased by apparitions when they find themselves in a room where they had been informed that a young girl had committed suicide in by slitting her wrists in the bathtub. Lance hears the sound of rushing water, and peers over one of the overturned bathtubs he is behind and sees that the tub is filled with blood. He tells his crew members this and they begin to leave the room when Matt walks over to the bathtub. Lance tells T.C. to go get Matt, and when he does, T.C. is pulled into the tub of blood by the figure of a girl covered in blood. In attempts to save T.C., Lance and Sasha flip the tub only to find that T.C. has disappeared entirely.
 |
| T.C. is Pulled into the Bathtub |
After this, Matt, Sasha, and Lance try to find another way out when they come across an elevator that is shut tight. Lance goes off to search for something to pry open the elevator doors when he sees a bloody tongue on the floor. Blood drops compel him to look up and he is met face to face by a tongueless apparition that chases him back to the elevator. Lance picks up the metal bar he acquired and pries open the doors, which attracts the attention of the tongueless ghost who tries to attack them. Lance and Sasha hold the door shut against the ghost, not realizing that Matt is picking up a camera. Matt takes the camera and jumps down the elevator shaft, committing suicide. The ghost leaves and Lance and Sasha realize what Matt did, but with no other choice they climb down the shaft to Matt's body. They take an exit to the underground tunnels, where they walk for days in one direction without finding anything.
At this point, Sasha is not holding well against the forces of the undead and begins to throw up blood. She asks for her Mom, and all Lance can do is hold her to try and comfort her. They walk further into the tunnels with no success. They take a break to rest, and while they sleep, a mysterious fog manifests and takes Sasha away; Lance wakes up and notices Sasha's absence. He continues his trek through the tunnels when he finds a door. The door leads to what seems to be the operating rooms in which Arthur Friedkin had performed his surgeries (his favorite was the lobotomy). Lance stumbles upon what seems to be the ghost of the doctor performing a surgery on an unidentified body. Lance tries to run but trips over what looks like an altar. He then comes across a book, and turns around to see the doctor look right at him when the doctor's own face contorts demonically.
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| Friedkin's Demonic Altar |
Review:
Again, this is one of my favorite horror films, but I do have some things to say about the way they filmed it. In the beginning of the movie, I was annoyed by the constant zooming of the camera, but that changed when I got further into the movie. The actors did a fine job of making their roles believable, as their reactions and words made it seem as if the movie had actually happened. This movie also had quite a few good jump-scares, and an over all antagonizing fear-factor that kept me on the edge of my seat. Over all, I give this movie a nine out of ten because the movie was just an enjoyable film to watch.
Citations (In Order):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Grave-Encounters-Poster-2011.jpg
https://fromthemindofmikel.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/grave-encounters.gif
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_q98jNq07B03qTFcfrVuBpJsrrSKY5vrdZs7pYMjzgAUgOetn67qrpM4ROW22Dp6-j9SH367fRoodn9L1cynpMXs7Y_Uf6NJZhjVftT9o8CxREA_vhvWMA5_25aeFtgZTk9swwVTrwT0/s400/1331.jpg
http://spacejockeyreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Grave-Encounters-Sasha-the-Tableau-Rossa.jpghttp://i99.beon.ru/24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m73ldonsmz1qgfw5eo1_400.gif
