Thread by @Linkara19

Finished Grave Encounters! It's pretty decent, but felt lacking and repetitive in spots. I always love spatial distortion in haunted house movies and of course the front doors opening into more hospital is a great show of how screwed they are.

However, that opens things into the remaining part of the film where the characters repeat the same beat over and over - weird noises weird occurrences, and them screaming WTF IS THAT?!

Aside from the fact that they already encountered paranormal stuff before they decided to leave... What do ya THINK it is?! Could it be... GHOSTS?!

I mean, I'm no expert, but I think it might be ghosts, guys.

While typing this on my phone, Chieri wanted attention. She ain't afraid of no ghosts.

Anyway, this leads to more bickering and complaining until their main cameraman finally dies, since he was the lead source of complaining. They mention how their light batteries are dying once, a legitimate concern considering they're in there for days from their perspective...

...but apparently 2003 cameras have energizer batteries because they keep going and going and going.

We get something of an explanation for the weirdness at the end since the lead doctor of the hospital apparently liked himself some demonic rituals... For some reason.

No explanation for the weird fog at the end, either. I guess one if the hospital wings the underground tunnels connect to is in Silent Hill.

Also, the death of the psychic was pretty weak. Partial choking, then suddenly flash of light and he goes flying. Would've been better...

...if he had just been drug off screaming by the ghosts or the like, maybe find his body later.

Overall, it's decent, going to watch the sequel, but I liked 7 Nights of Darkness more.

...okay how is the first available for free from prime video, but not the sequel?

Never mind, it is - they just hid the button after clicking on the link a few times. Weird.

Sequel opening with a montage of youtubers talking about the movie in vlogs or the like. Not a great sign. Hope they got compensated for their appearances, whoever they are.

Also, weirdly they blur out the background of some marvel characters in the background of one, but a poster for Tourist Trap in another is fine?

...oh goodie, now footage from a broey douchebag's party. That's definitely what was missing from the first movie.

I mean, lead character descending into madness and eating a rat due to sheer hunger from the DAYS he was trapped? Psssh, nah we need some asshole joking about wanting to roofy someone. Great. This is great.

Can the ghosts please come and kill all these characters now?

"I'm checking for comments on n my YouTube reviews."

/I'm in this photo and I don't like it

Took a break for lunch, back for more while editing! Kid who declared himself the next Wes Craven is putting together his horror movie... and yeah, ummm... kid? This is not going to look great on your filmography if you do become the next Craven.

I mean, say what you will about the silly Youtube movies I've either made or been a part in... but the acting was better and the dialogue less clunky (sabotaging sabertooths notwithstanding, of course).

Oh, and speaking of my silly Youtube movies and all - storyline in this episode. =)

"None of these actors did anything else after this movie, can you explain that?!"

Ummm... Yeah. That happens all the time, especially with Indy films.

This kid decried fast-editing in horror movies... Does so in his own. Now complaining that the scenario in his film has been done before abd thinks it's lame... After the massively cliched scene we had seen before.

Also your slasher is just a dude in a gimp mask.

And don't tell me it's a budgetary thing - your set looks better than professional ones I've seen.

Also he must be using university equipment for this movie, because he keeps using his crappy webcam for his videos when the movie's cameras look so much better...

And actually I call his webcam crappy, but I'm pretty sure I have the same webcam as him and it looks better.

"I want to interview this director, so let me bring my douchey, bro-y roommate who will probably embarass us."

I'm only 17 minutes in. @_@

Okay, clever jump scare with the digital glitch stretching his face like the ghosts. Kudos, movie.

"Come on! We can get into Sundance with this shit!" Sooo, @thelindsayellis - correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't any movie produced by a film school students with said film school's equipment property of said film school?

Thanks for the 3-second insert shot of the kid peeing in a bush, movie. Totally necessary. The film would have fallen apart without it.

Okay, taking a break from editing and watching the film to sleep. Last remarks so far: despite knowing the seriousness of their journey, everyone but the main kid have decided to get blitzed before meeting with the internet man who knows the truth.

They're going to meet an internet man.

If they're not back in an hour...

Oh, and sorry the episode is taking so long after such a good streak of being on time - late start plus longer episode plus storyline means slower production, but it's on its way - review portion 1/3 done.

Okay, back to editing and watching this. So they break into the hospital where the first movie was shot after being invited by YouTube comment person. They know the first movie was real based on the producer admitting it in secret... But none of them thinks this is a bad...

... idea based on the fact that REAL FRIGGIN GHOSTS MURDERED THESE PEOPLE AND KEPT THEM FROM ESCAPING?!

Like, sure - producer is scummy and taking advantage of the dead, BUT PROVING THAT IS NOT WORTH GOING TO GHOST HOSPITAL TO GET KILLED YOURSELVES

"Is this where the black guy died?" "Yeah, well, the ethnics always die first." As accurate as that is... He didn't in the first movie. Fake psychic died first.

It's weird that I his was written by the same guys as the first (different director) yet it's been so damn different and seems to forget some of its own continuity.

"We will be conducting our own paranormal investigation to find out what really happened." AGAIN, you think the movie is real, so you know there are frickin' malevolent ghosts!

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO TRY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM WHEN YOU JUST SHOWED FOOTAGE OF A GUY GETTING KILLED BY THEM?!

And while I applaud you coming up with a few methods of finding each other should you get lost, you know the interior dimensions get warped in the movie so that even a compass doesn't work, so things like a military-grade gos are useless!

You'd honestly gave better luck with the sarcastic suggestion from the first movie with tying a string and using that!

"Ha ha ha, the heat camera can show farts!"

I hate this movie and we're not even at the halfway point, ffs.

"Hey, a spirit board! Let's play with it in the building we know us FOR REAL HAUNTED." You know, I was rewatching the Autopsy of Jane Doe and man I love how that film has smart, likeable characters, doesn't fall into cliche, and is really tense. This movie ain't like that.

"We know the spirits of the dead may be angry. Do any spirits wish to speak to us now?" WELL MAYBE THEY'RE PISSED BECAUSE SOME JACKASS FILM STUDENTS WON'T LET 'EM REST IN PEACE.

So the guy they came to talk to was a ghost. Ghosts use YouTube, guys, and they hate movie vlogs giving bad reviews of their found footage movies.

Security guard is back and he's going after the ghosts with his gun and tells the trespassers to stay in the lobby while he investigates. If he didn't know the place was haunted, why did he try to initially confiscate the cameras in the car when they first stopped by?

Hell, why is he even armed? Canadian fans, are armed security guards a thing?

Even the idiot broey roommate is saying they should leave and forget the cameras after they hear gunshots. But noooo, kid can't finish his movie without them

Points again for ghosts shoving a dude out the window. Effective.

However, since they were the same one pointing out how non-white people die first in horror movies (character is Asian) I feel they were trying to be cute, but again doesn't work - security guard died first.

OH NO THE THING THAT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WOULD HAPPEN BECAUSE IT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE HAPPENED TO US

Huh. Creepy ghost child. I'm sure it's okay to go up to them and OH NO IT WASN'T OKAY THIS WAS UNFORSEEN

Criminy, I don't know why I keep being so tired these last two days, but ended up taking a nap for the last few hours. Back to action as the movie continues to just rehash the first movie now but with less likeable characters!

Never mind, security guard is alive and hooked up to electro-shock device. Your weak meta-commentary on horror movies is intact.

Aaaand now he's REALLY dead.

...okay, unexpected twist - they get chased by giant stretchy ghost out of the front entrance of the building. They have escaped. Stretchy ghost explodes into dust when it makes it out, but... Yeah. They're outside. There's still 40 minutes left. I honestly don't know where...

...they're going with this now. This is genuinely surprising.

"I didn't know any of this was going to happen." Then you're a colossal idiot, kid.

Oh, DIRTY POOL, HAUNTED HOUSE. YOU ARE A FILTHY CHEATER.

You can't have them get out, drive back to the hotel, decide to leave the hotel, then suddenly go FOOLED YOU!

1408 got away with that because of the sheer amount of personalized illusions it cast. You're an evil...

...haunted hospital with repeating hallways and stretchy ghosts - you don't have Canadian highways and hotels inside of you! This is cheating! And with 37 minutes left, this makes it VERY clear there's no chance of escape AT ALL. And yeah, I know - in found footage movies it's...

...very, VERY rare for that to happen, but I've watched two now with distinctly happy endings, so it ain't impossible!

I mean... I don't know, I'm not ENTIRELY against this, bit it feels like they blow their load with this idea too early in the film.

I mean, what's the security cam footage and in the hotel supposed to be, then?!

Oh, hey, they found the main character of the first movie, who now looks like a Rob Zombie character and is still on his rat diet.

"You know you're drinking out of a fucking toilet, right?"

The movie is trying so desperately to be interesting again but it's the crappy characters that hold it back. This is douchebro commenting to a guy who's been stuck here for NINE YEARS.

The ghosts just decided to lift a camera, look at all of them sleeping, then put it back.

Maybe they just want their own YouTube channel?

Damn it movie, stop trying to make me feel sympathy for the douchebro as he records his tearful last will. This is not an arc - him suddenly being remorseful and sad and apologetic does not make up for the last hour we have had to endure of his idiocy and unlikeability.

FFS, just two minutes ago he was judging a guy stuck here in ghost central for 9 years for surviving on dirty toilet water.

Hell, him doing this was dumb because he decided to do it in a bathroom away from the others in a place he KNOWS messes with time and space, and is now interrupted by a loud noise and asks "Hello? Is anybody there?" IN THE PLACE FULL OF EVIL GHOSTS.

And now he's dead, killed by crazy ghost-possessed main character of the first movie, as if the first movie is trying to get rid of the crappiest parts of the second.

Farewell, douchebro. You're teabagging your friends and posting pictures of it on Facebook in hell, now.

Can we just watch a whole movie of the main character of the first movie talking to his ghost cameraman?

Psssh, the red door the main character wanted to escape through led to nothing and the mad scratchings on the wall just tell him to finish the film.

THE GHOSTS REALLY DO WANT TO MAKE YOUTUBE MOVIES BAHAHAHA

Uggggh, okay, over and done with. Criminy.

Okay, final thoughts. As you can probably tell from this thread, I don't think this is very good. While the movie picks up once they actually get to the damn haunted hospital, it takes for-fricking-ever to do so. In theory, this is...

...to build character development for our principle cast. The problem is that the only one I care about, the main character's girlfriend, does not get as much character development and is brutally murdered in the end because ghosts want to make Youtube movies for some reason.

Unlike the first movie, which did NOT have as much padding even though it had repetition, this one is loaded with padding - completely unnecessary scenes and sequences like bits of the slasher movie the kid is making, random shots of nothing happening like the kid taking a...

...piss while on their road trip to Canada, douchebro getting high with a bong (and filming it for some reason), that sort of thing. The characters are complete and utter morons, exemplified in particular when they get to the hospital. As I said, the only reason they're doing...

...all this is because they think the first Grave Encounters was REAL - as in, friggin' ghosts murdered a group of people making a ghost hunting show... but they say they want to get the truth of what happened... BY GOING TO THE HAUNTED HOSPITAL THEY KNOW IS HAUNTED.

And thus we end up with a bunch of stupid character actions and holes in the movie, like, again: WHY DO THE GHOSTS WANT TO MAKE A YOUTUBE FOUND FOOTAGE MOVIE? The evil doctor who is responsible for this place being haunted - why did he perform satanic rituals? What was he...

...trying to accomplish by doing this in his hospital and why did all the nurses go along with it? How did the ghosts contact the outside world to get the kid to come here and do this? If them escaping the hospital was fake, why did the stretchy ghost pursuing them...

...disintegrate when it exited the doors of the hospital? If they want more victims to "Finish the film," as the ghosts have said, why not just make fake ones? They created fake people already when our heroes supposedly escaped, so make some more and have main character from...

...the first movie kill them! Why did they wait NINE YEARS to do this? Were they waiting for the right Youtube movie vlogger to come along and review the film? Because we had that montage of other people reviewing it before. Did they need a film student obsessive and stupid...

...enough to do this? And most importantly of all: why did hi student film slasher movie have the look of a professional film, but his slasher killer is just some dude in a gimp mask making dentist puns?!

I feel like the movie is TRYING to say something about found footage...

...and horror movies, with many references to other horror films in the beginning, the obsessive desire to finish something incomplete, or a drive by newbie directors to become the next version of celebrated directors, but whatever that message is gets lots in a CGI ghost anus...

...that opens up for no reason at the end and sucks in the main character of the first movie, who was honestly more interesting and compelling than the three other leads.

It's just not good. Apparently the Vicious Brothers announced in 2015 they wanted to make a prequel...

...presumably talking about the evil doctor responsible for the haunted hospital, but I really don't know what'd be the point if that is the case. And if it's not, just another found footage thing, well... that REALLY makes my head scratch because it's not like we haven't...

...already seen what the spooky ghost hospital has to offer now - stretchy-faced ghosts who chase you but apparently are stopped by doors... except for when they're invisible and incorporeal so they can make cameras float and make Youtube movies.

The first movie is enjoyable...

...I say give it a watch if you're into this sort of thing like me, but the second is mostly just obnoxious, with a few bits in later parts much more entertaining. Again, just watch 7 Nights of Darkness - lower budget, but the scares are better and it's not as annoying.

Aaand I just now discovered there was a pointless post-credits scene implying the kid and his girlfriend weren't even dating. I just... What?!