Grave Encounters 2 goes forward ten years from where the first movie leaves off. Grave Encounters has been released as a fictional found footage film. Horror enthusiasts either think it is a load of garbage or one of the scariest films out there. Alex Wright (Richard Harmon) believes Grave Encounters is real, and as his college film thesis, wants to prove it to the world. Little does he and the crew he puts together know that an unknown force wants them at that asylum.
Where the first movie had us following a professional film crew, the second movie introduces us to an amateur student crew. The Vicious Brothers made a bold choice with how they set this sequel up. They make their first movie a work of non fiction in their plotline to show the perspective of a film student’s hunt for the truth. Lance Preston is actually Sean Rogerson, The Vicious Brothers are just interns and the first movie is a get rich quick scheme by Jerry Hartfield. In theory, this makes for an interesting plot concept for this sequel. Though the execution falls short.
A lot of the first half of the movie feels slow as the focused on Alex and his friends’ college life. Most of the scenes do not add to the characters’ depth, in fact it just makes them unlikeable and bland. The sprinkles of Easter eggs (more like omens) from the first movie help to draw your interest back in. It sets a familiar mood and helps to recover from the slow start. It is not until Alex gets proof that the movie real and everything is a big conspiracy that things get interesting.
Instead of slow and subtle, this sequel goes full throttle into the haunts. Nothing like a cliché Ouija board scene to kick things off. It is obvious that this movie is trying to out scare the first movie. Many of the scares feel over done and cheap as a result. It is almost as if this was the point, huge scares to quicken the pace of the movie.
Any sense of plot goes out the window during the last quarter of the movie. The twist of Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson) still being alive and him needing to open the red door feels like a separate idea. It has no flow to the original story. From here, The Vicious Brothers turned their bland, cliché sequel into a convoluted mess. The ending leaves me wondering what the hell I just watched.
Like with any horror sequel, it tries to live up to and out scare its predecessor. Grave Encounters 2 goes above and beyond in being an utter disappointment. Unlikeable characters and an over ambitious plot told terribly leave a lot to be desired. It doesn’t even feel like it connects to the first other than what connects them. I recommend just watching Grave Encounters and stopping there.
2.5 out of 5 spirit orbs
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