Like anything that is popular upon launch, Aughts’ found footage craze stemmed from a game-changing release The Blair Witch Project 1999) will eventually overdo it to the point of burnout. When the audience’s senses are shocked and shattered by something like the original Record (2007), Cloverfield (2008), and paranormal activity (2009), subsequently found footage films faced the fact that standards and expectations had been set quite high. From then on, OK Films with found footage became the exception rather than the norm.
During this time we found a low budget film called grave encounterdirected by Canadian filmmaker Vicious Brothers (Colin Minihan and Stewart Ortiz). Released in 2011, the film grossed approximately $5 million on a budget of $120,000 and did well at the box office. It found a way to connect with its audience, tapping into another pop culture phenomenon that was taking over the collective imagination: Supernatural TV, another staple of the 2000s (like TV shows) ghost hunter and memorable can be proven).
grave encounter A group of paranormal researchers hope to expand with their own ghost show (the titular “Grave Encounter”) when they land in the perfect location: Collingswood Asylum. The place has a dark history of patient abuse, leading to multiple deaths and botched lobotomies. The crew decided to spend the night there to capture anything spooky, but they got it in the worst possible way.
Story-wise, there’s little here that’s unique or groundbreaking. It’s really as simple as people making bad choices because they didn’t respect the myths and warnings about the place and then paying the price. What’s special about it is the quality of fear. The haunting feeling starts high in intensity and never drops. Things collapse with tremendous force, people are tossed around with a palpable sense of violent rage, and ghosts look demonic with their deathly white eyes and black lips.
The horror sequences really save this movie. As scary as it is, you always want to see what other horrors it has. Appreciating crafts is easy. Achieving a good jump scare is more of an art than people give it credit for. Give grave encounter Watch and honor the work that makes you squeal a moment or two.
