Some Guy Name ... And it does not belong in the horror genre. The first 30 minutes or so of this movie is a perfect - and intentional - parody of the many reality TV "haunted house" shows like Ghost Adventures, and the like. It is expertly done compared to other movies of the "mockumentary" genre, and it would've gotten great critical acclaim if it had stayed that way. The Vicious Brothers obviously hate stuff like Ghost Adventures with a passion, which I guess is why the acting was only great in this part. Not only is a parody easier to do acting-wise, the actors all seemed to know exactly the level of ridiculousness they were supposed to express, and the purpose of each scene. Now, I know mockumentaries aren't as popular as found footage horror movies, so it wouldn't have gotten as many viewers. But at least it would've earned some integrity(and a cult following). This could have been the Spinal Tap of the "reality TV haunted house" genre, is what I'm saying. But no, it had to try to be genuinely scary. This is quite sad, since The Vicious Brothers(judging by this one) does not possess great talent for when and how to scare people, making the movie less and less enjoyable the further away you get from the intro. It also displays an incredible amount of missed opportunities to scare you, so that it could've at least been scary in the cliché jump scare way, instead of just downright boring. The acting is atrocious at the end, and their idea of what a crazy person is supposed to be like is offensive. Realistically, "Losing your mind" =/= Homer Simpson in The Shining-episode of The Simpsons. This stood out to me, since the directors seemed to dislike the exploitation of dead insane people as entertainment, given that the joke is always on the reality TV-crew. But why even mock the crew for their deceptive strategies, when you are going to stoop to their level anyway? (speaking of obvious attempts at deception, what a horrible job they did on those ghost people. I could've made more realistic scary stuff in Photoshop myself)It makes for a jarring tone,(my main pet peeve) but worst of all it makes for a lack of scares. Due to bad acting, bad scares, and sometimes unrealistic forms of character motivation, this movie can never be considered scary(unless you think Ghost Adventures is scary - yes, I know you exist. And I'm judging you). At the end, I actually felt sleepy. Despite great potential, I can't recommend this movie to anyone.

CinemaClown Inspired from those awful & laughable ghost-investigation television programs, Ghost Encounters is a fine entry in the found-footage subgenre of horror when compared to its counterparts, for it makes good use of genre elements over the course of its runtime to carve a few scary & effective moments but still fails to leave a memorable impression once it's over.The story of Grave Encounters concerns the crew of a ghost-hunting reality television show who decide to lock themselves up inside a reportedly haunted & abandoned mental asylum for a night to document the paranormal activities on camera. But as the night progresses, they discover that the building is more than just haunted and encounter much more than they bargained for.Written & directed by The Vicious Brothers, the notoriety surrounding the mental asylum is quickly skimmed over and the main plot kicks into action soon after all the character are introduced. The filmmakers strictly adhere to the format of those paranormal reality programs by taking this story through the same route, however, unlike those episodes, things do get intense & interesting after a while.Also, unlike most found-footage features, the POV shooting does make sense here and the night vision camera-work & hand-held photography is properly carried out. Editing provides a good pace to the story but the change in direction that its plot later undergoes was uncalled for. As for the performances, the cast plays their part well but none of them ever manage to stand out.On an overall scale, Grave Encounters delivers some good scares and keeps them coming throughout its runtime but even though some of those frightening moments are downright chilling, they still carry a tone of familiarity, for it's something that most horror aficionados have encountered before. Not a bad start to their filmmaking career, The Vicious Brothers' directorial debut does get many things right but just not enough to set itself apart from the norm.

tamosoeka This was it.After watching this, I decided never to watch found footage films. I mean, what was that? In the whole movie, three or four ghost jumped out of the walls, and then the film ended.I never liked found footage films that much. This was the last.

Peter Florea I made an account just to write a review for this film. I did it because I am angered by all the criticism it gets. People say that it's "just not scary" and that it is "boring" and "slow" but I disagree. It's pacing is phenomenal. It starts with an oddly comical vibe, making fun of it's own genre, then the slow descent into madness begins. It creates an oppressively dark and bleak atmosphere. You feel like you are locked in that asylum with them and everything gets worse and worse and worse. The concept of no escape with infinite rooms( a kinda alternate dimension) is brilliant and greatly contributes to the horror of it. By the end, you are left with a blank space in yourself. You truly feel abused. It also touches on some very interesting subjects about asylums back in the 1930s when a perfectly normal person was taken, told he was crazy and then experimented on and left for dead. He is then told that he is "better" now but truly he is permanently screwed. That is precisely what happens to Lance at the end. All in all, it is a brilliant horror film which received bad rep from people who don't understand what good horror is and feed on crappy jump scares.