I absolutely loved GRAVE ENCOUNTERS. I would place it high
in the ranks of my films that came out the year it was released and include it
in my list of top notch horror films of all times. For me it hit every note
exactly right. Not so with the follow up film which fails more often than it
succeeds, the usual problem with most sequels.
If you haven't seen the original it revolves around a ghost
hunters' type program that we find is more staged than reality. In that film the
terror rises when they discover that the ghost are indeed real and that they
prevent the crew from ever leaving unless they're placed in a body bag. It
offered some truly scary moments and a general sense of unease that prevailed
from start to finish.
The reason for its failure can be seen in the majority of
the opening sequence which takes up perhaps the first half of the film. Instead
of a professional crew we have a student film maker who along with his friends
spends most of his time getting drunk and trying to have sex. When he begins to
look into the disappearance of the original crew he eventually talks his group
into seeking out the abandoned hospital and investigating it on their own. The
problem is that the majority of film time here involves them partying and
swearing like sailors as opposed to furthering the story along. The whole
opening segment feels like wasted film and time and something to just fill out
the story instead of add to it.
When the group finally gets to the hospital they're confronted
by a guard who prevents them from entering. But this is a determined group and
they eventually find their way in. When the guard enters to pull them out
things begin to happen starting with the guard's death. Frightened and unable
to leave, the group searches for a way out just like their predecessors did.
It's not until later in the film that they stumble across the sole survivor of
the original film, the host of the show, who has been trapped here for years.
Can they escape with his help even though he hasn't been able to all this time?
That's the sort of stupid question that comes up in this
film. The scares that we see are this time around more predictable than the
first time even though there are some creepy moments to be seen. But the sense
of discovery found the first time around is lacking this time and the whole
initial sequences do nothing but make you want to reach for the fast forward
button rather than wait until something happens.
I don't think I can even give this film an A for effort
since it seems like so little effort went into making this a good picture. It
feels like someone realized they had a cult hit on their hands and decided to
keep the ball rolling rather than take the time to add something to the story.
Sure the part with the old host adds something but at the sake of dead air time
(no pun intended) prior it isn't worth it. Sorry but I can't recommend this
movie to anyone, including fans of the first film.
Click here to order.
No comments:
Post a Comment