Grave Encounters 2 Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After giving a negative review to the first "Grave Encounters" on his blog, a film student is contacted by a mysterious individual regarding the reality of the first film's events.

Review: After the surprisingly successful first entry, was this sequel able to live up to the original? Not a chance. Just like the first film, they continue with a found-footage style even though it is not fully realized in this instance which is noticed especially by the end. I was greatly disappointed because I really liked the first "Grave Encounters" and this film started off really strong with a somewhat original premise; the use of youtube reviews in the beginning of the actual movie is genius especially considering how effective youtube was in spreading interest in the first film! Likewise, the concept that the first film is, in fact, just a movie was creative while not entirely original and led to some interesting paths the story could go. As my plot summary suggests, the main guy, named Alex, thinks that GE sucked and was fake and is later contacted by a mysterious individual with the net handle: deathawaits6. This individual shows an alleged extended ending to the first film to entice Alex into investigating whether there was any truth to the first film. The more Alex investigates the actors, the show, the production company, etc. the more he becomes convinced that there may be truth to the notion that the movie is real. Alex then becomes borderline obsessed as he ignores his workload and his student film in favor of pursuing the truth. All of this character transition and investigating takes up about a third of the film which, while I appreciated the mystery, detracts from the scares and pacing. Eventually, Alex gathers enough evidence that the film was real with some acknowledgement from the producer and tracks down the mental hospital's location. Bringing along a bunch of friends, and cameras of course, Alex attempts to make a video blog regarding his own investigation in GE's realness at the actual hospital. At this point is when the film really falls apart as we see old scares being tread back over and introducing a nonsensical plot line that there is an overall spirit to the hospital that will only release one person if they promote more individuals to come to the hospital. The lack of new scares and an overall sense of unoriginality hurts the film drastically at the point that should have been the highlight. Alex and crew also run into Lance from the first film explaining that he has been surviving off rats in the hospital for almost a decade. I don't know how to explain it, but it's just presented so stupidly and feels out of place. Toward the end, only Alex and the girl who has a crush on him remains in which Alex kills her so that he can be the one to escape; this part was especially annoying because this whole "crush" plot line was useless and felt tacked on to add some kind of depth. The film simply ends implying Alex and the producer from the first film conspire to release a sequel that they emphasize is not real in a wannabe scary way. Eh, there were some cool moments and, like I said, the film starts off strong, but other than that, this is just a mediocre sequel that went nowhere. The acting is decent, there are some nice scenes, and it did have a decent twist at one point, but all I can say is that it was wasted potential and lost its way at some point. It's worth a view if you liked the first film, but if that didn't even do it for you, don't even think about this one,

Notable Moment: When the group meets where "deathawaits6" had said he wanted to meet within the hospital. They discover a quija board carved into a table and communicate with what appears to be the actual spirit calling itself "deathawaits6."

Final Rating: 5.5/10

Grave Encounters Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A film crew that investigates paranormal locations discovers a rundown mental hospital is actually haunted.

Review: I really need to commend this film for accomplishing so much with a small budget, mostly just internet promotions, and a cast of unknowns in a tired genre. Once more we are dealing with a found-footage style film that is focused on a group of paranormal investigators in a similar vein to TV shows like "Ghost Hunters." There are actually quite a few humorous moments as they make light of these kind of TV shows and how they are more than likely staged. I think the thing I liked most about this film was that it took ideas and themes from other films and was effectively able to make them scarier through the handheld camera perspective. For example, all those shots of the characters walking down the long, dark corridors in the hospital puts the audience on edge about what could possibly leap forth at any moment. The special effects were also quite impressive given the low budget; you'd be surprised how some cheap CGI actually made for a scary looking ghost in this setting. There were also interesting and original scares that played with your perception about what direction the film was going in. The scares are aplenty which added more tension and made the pacing feel stronger and more thought out. Finally, the acting is decent and felt believable which enhanced the sense of realism; I will admit there were a few shoddy moments though. But despite this movie being an instance of entertaining found-footage, there are some notable detractors such as the ridiculously spoiler-laden trailer that ruins virtually every scary scene. The beginning with the producer talking about the events is similar to the "The Tunnel" in that it ruins a large chunk of the mystery to come revealing that the cast is missing. The biggest problem is probably the fact that the film loses its direction toward the end and you get that feeling that the writers weren't sure how to end the movie; I really do not like the ending because it's not scary and just felt weak. These complaints did lower the score significantly for me especially because I'm so tired of shitty endings to films in recent years. Overall, this is a solid entry that almost breathes some fresh life into a sub-genre on its last leg. The acting, effects, and story are all good and could have been phenomenal if it had the budget necessary for its more ambitious scenes. If you're a fan of these kind of films, you definitely need to give this one a view and can probably find it on youtube.

Notable Moment: When the crew finally breaks down the entrance doors only to find they lead deeper in the hospital. This was a creative scare tactic, and I like the immediate sense of dread it sends the audience.

Final Rating: 7/10

The Bay Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A small town is overrun by mutated parasites found in the drinking water during a 4th of July celebration.

Review: I think this may be an indication that the found-footage genre is losing its momentum with a mediocre and pointless entry in the form of "The Bay." Right from the moment the film begins you're already removed from any sense of fear or the unknown as this movie makes the same mistake "The Tunnel" made by having characters discussing the events you're about to watch. Why would you reveal ahead of time what characters live instead of leaving the audience wondering? I get that they're going for realism, but it didn't work in "The Tunnel" either and that actually had some scary scenes to make up for the lack of mystery while this film was more of a monster flick. On top of that massive blunder, we have a premise that was not entirely thought through or they idiotically ignored the implausibility of the plot in favor of it looking cool. Essentially, the story is that these real life parasites, that latch onto fish and replace their tongue, have been mutated by various pollution in the water so that they are slightly bigger than a cockroach. The town recently installed a distillation center or something like that and the people begin drinking the eggs of the parasites which leads to them hatching and eating their way out of the host. Now I don't know how the eggs would live to maturity in the host, but what bothered me most was the fact that everyone in the town seems to break out with these things at the exact same time on the 4th of July! So everyone drank eggs that exact same day? They all grew and burst out at almost the exact same moment?! I get that it needed to work somewhat this way for movie purposes but throw in a line about how there was a mistake at the distillation center that day or some kind of explanation or it becomes stupid. The final aspect that hurt the film is this general sense of not really going anywhere; once the initial shock and awe is over, the film just sort of goes on showing various people with the parasites ripping through them. The ending felt abrupt and left me wondering what was the point to even making the movie as a mock-documentary? There was also an unforgivable and senseless zinger thrown into the end for no reason but as a cheap jump scare. On the other hand, there are some decent scenes and it did feel kind of real which is what they were going for most I suppose. It's not that this film is bad necessarily, but it just felt so pointless and would have been better as just a normal movie and not a wannabe documentary. I would say this film is just barely worth a view and only if you're a fan of these kind of films.

Notable Moment: When the one couple with the baby arrives in town only to discover that it appears deserted. There is a nice haunting atmosphere created.

Final Rating: 5/10