Grave Encounters 2 (2012) (DVD Review)
Directed By: John Poliquin
Starring: Richard Harmon, Shawn C. Phillips, Jennica Fulton
Rated: UR/Region: 1/16X9/Number of disc: 1
Available from New Video Group
For people who don’t believe the events of Grave Encounters. Grave Encounters, film student Alex Wright is out to prove them wrong. Alex is as obsessed with the first film as the 20 million people who viewed its viral trailer on YouTube. While he and his friends research the events and visit the real psychiatric hospital depicted in the original film, they find themselves face-to-face with unspeakable evil, banking on the hope that their knowledge of the original film will help them survive the sequel.
After viewing Grave Encounter 2 for the first time I took to the internet to see what everyone’s opinion was on it. To my surprise I haven’t seen much love for it and I can’t understand why not. The original film was good, but the best part was the poking fun at ghost hunting shows. Here we have a sequel that doesn’t just follow the format like Paranormal Activity. Instead Grave Encounters 2 takes a chance of trying something a little new and while I can’t call it a home run, I do think they at least got a triple. The dialogue shows a film that is smarter than it looks and the cast while not the most likeable people ever, deliver where they need to deliver as we get a deeper level to the whole Grave Encounters mythology. Sadly, I feel that maybe it has come across too smart for most. That being the case I think it may take some time before this film gets the love I feel it deserves. It isn’t just about jump scares, this film was very interesting to me.
I only found a few minor things wrong with the movie. I think it gets a little confusing at times on if the plot is saying the TV show Grave Encounters was the fake show that was in fact really killed off in the original or if it was saying the actual movie was supposed to be real. After that was cleared up I did enjoy it more, to spite the fact I then was confused as to why the cast of the original still called each other their “character” names when the stuff hit the fan. Anyway, that is nitpicking and thinking perhaps too much. This is a worthy sequel at the end of the day and one I feel is better than the original. It packs some cool surprises and we never really know how things are going to go until the end. If you still like the found footage films of today and want to see one that is a little different, then this is one you want to see.
– Interview with The Vicious Brothers
