Shudder Day: Grave Encounters 2

A Film that makes me yearn for the joy of being in an *actual* Haunted Sanitarium.

To find out why this Sequel is so divisive, read on...

A guy named Alex is an Online Film Critic- a respectable profession- who starts to learn more about the Film 'Grave Encounters.'

Yes, like 'Blair Witch 2,' we're going with The Film was a Film within this World...but also real.
More on that later.

He starts to make his own Film, but feels that making a 'Torture Porn' Film is not his vision.

Instead, he gets obsessed with the mystery behind Grave Encounters.

They also confirm the 2003 timeline for the first Film, in case you were wondering.

He gets his buddies and would-be girlfriend to go to the same Hospital- with the Caretaker long dead via suicide- and find out the truth.

This is all because a mysterious source sent him clues to go there.
Wait- did 2016's Blair Witch take that Plot Point from this Film?!?

Well, I guess we can call it even for how much this truly is Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows.

They wander around the place and revisit the key locations, literally showing you the big moments from the last Film.

Just like that Film, they do, well, the same bits.

I wonder if she'll grow a giant, monster face and scream.

She does.

The Building plays the same tricks as before- somehow making Exits vanish and walls appear- and our Heroes do the same dumb thing.

They just find little tweaks.  So, for instance...

In the first Film, they fell asleep and the ghost broke their lights.
In this Film, they fall asleep and a ghost checks their camera footage.

They also find out that they aren't as alone in the place as they thought.

It only gets stranger, deeper in lore and, to be honest, dumber from here.

I won't SPOIL anymore for you while it is getting a second chance this Month on Shudder.
The End.

A Film that was clearly designed to outmatch the original Film in every way.

Unfortunately, that came at the cost of logic, good storytelling and any real tension.

This one- like many Sequels, Horror or otherwise- goes deeper into its lore and suffers for it.

It both explains a whole lot more and also raises many, MANY more questions than you had before.

If you're here for the ghost stuff, it is the same as last time, save for a few new (for this Series, anyways) tricks.
This one goes ALL IN on the Ghosts being walking Plot Devices too, so enjoy that...I guess.

If this could have avoided more cliches, I'd like it more.
Hell, if it could have at least tried a few actually new ideas in regard to its Third Act, I'd at least be more generous.

Instead, this one is a big, dumb mess that manages to be 'inspired' by more successful Found Footage Films like Rec/Quarantine.

A Film that goes 'Here's what you wanted- right?!?'  Sadly, it's not that and just so much worse all around.

Shudder Day: Grave Encounters (2011)

 As October officially begins this week, I'm beginning Halloween Horror Movie Madness yet again.

To start off strong, a Found Footage Film that hit big 15 years ago.

Prepare for some...

The Film begins with a Producer talking about how he was approached by a man to make a Ghost Hunting Show.

He says that this was before there were a dozen (so everyone says that this Film is set in 2003).

This man is the Host.

His Show- Grave Encounters- ran for 5 Episodes and the sixth was never submitted.

Instead, they have the 76 hours of raw footage which THEY cut into a Narrative.

They are staying overnight in a supposedly Haunted Asylum and we see that they are bit loose with the truth- because every one of these Films is inspired by Cannibal Holocaust.

After lots of setup and seeing them in full, uncut takes- again, this is from CH- we finally get some tension build up as they wander around.

The best Character- T.C.- is having none of their shit, so, naturally, the Ghosts pick on him the most, first shoving him down some stairs.

Enough happens to scare them, but now they can't get out.  They're locked in, remember?

It seems that the Residents of the Asylum don't want them to leave...but also want to make them run away.

Pick a lane, Ghosts!

Tensions rise as their appears to be no way out!  
Exits they can find don't seem to help.

As the group gets picked off one-by-one, will they finally capture the proof that they have wanted to find for all of this time?

Will anyone live to show it?
To find out, stream it now.

A Film that is very cliche- even for its time- but is there more to it?

The Plot is basic.  You know how these go.
The Location is good, if cliche.
The Acting is...not especially amazing.
All of the Found Footage cliches are on display here.

Without going full SPOILER, the Film tries to do something where the Building itself (or their perception of it) is being warped in order to keep them inside.
If this wasn't a Found Footage Film, you could get away with the trickery aspect more- but the Cameras see what they see.

There was one- admittedly bad- Ghost Hunter Film which finished halfway and then retold the events with the real things being shown. 
Maybe do that and have them yell at a missing door.  Cut to it again and show them yelling at a wide open door that they just can't see a way out of it.
Just a thought.

In any event, this one has a very predictable beginning and ending.  Between that, a few good ideas slipped in.
On the plus side, Ghosts now to write the whole message equally across the door.  No 'Don't Dead Open Inside' mistakes by them!

A Film that I can see the hype for at the time.  For me, they only tried to do a little bit different and that wasn't enough to avoid being full of cliches.