"What you are about to see is not a movie."
This found footage flick didn't get a great reception at the time of it's release but has since became a fave of this subgenre's fanatics.
Following the massively successful 'Paranormal Activity' (2007), hundreds of found footage films were pumped out, most of them very poor quality; by the early 2010s audiences had fatigue in the extremely oversaturated subgenre.
The unoriginal plot of paranormal investigators going to haunted places definitely didn't help the film at the time, there was even a film with a nearly identical plot released the same year, but this film has staying power above it's competition.
The production design was minimal, it is shot on an actual abandoned mental asylum, such a great creepy atmosphere.
There is no score so they do struggle to build tension and fear without it, we wish they had incorporated a ghost singing or a creepy old radio.
The acting is pretty good, CGI could have been better, but the practical effects, psychological dread, and scares make up for it.
Not much happens until the third act, just stay with it, it will be worth it.
Camera work is really good, not motion sickness inducing.

Directed by rookie Colin Minihan, this is their directorial debut, also known for 'Extraterrestrial' (2014).

'Grave Encounters' cast features: Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir, Mackenzie Gray, Juan Riedinger, and others.

*Trigger warnings: suicide, claustrophobia.*

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