Grave Encounters is getting a reboot! The film follows a team of ghost hunters who went missing while investigating a haunted insane asylum and this is their last recorded episode. Since its release in 2011, Grave Encounters has amassed a cult following and is considered a staple in the found footage horror subgenre. It's full of out-of-the-corner-of-your-eye scares, strange time disturbances, and a third act that had me jumping out of my skin. It's one of those movies where you're not sure what's "real" and what's been set up for the show.
Now, over a decade later, Grave Encounters is getting an updated look. According to Variety, Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, who wrote and directed the original film as well as its sequel, are coming back to work on this latest iteration of their work. Their goal is to "modernize the concept into a cinematic experience, heightening the dread, claustrophobia, and psychological terror" of the original film. It's unclear whether or not that means they still plan to make a found footage movie, or if they're going to go in entirely new direction while keeping the core of the movie the same.
Justin Long is set to star in the movie with wife, actress Kate Bosworth producing. Minihan recently worked with Long and Bosworth on their latest horror comedy, Coyotes, which just came out on September 20th. I'm tentatively excited about this news. I think what makes a good found footage movie are the lesser to unknown actors that are featured in them. It gives them a sort of "authenticity" because at the core of a good found footage movie is that they want you to believe that what they're showing you is real. However, Justin Long is a certified scream king and a staple of the genre in his own right, and I don't think you can go wrong with him leading any movie, let alone a horror movie.
What I loved about Grave Encounters and what I found so endearing about it was that it fits into this niche of the found footage genre that I thoroughly enjoy, which is paranormal investigators with hidden skeptics trying to make good reality television before they eventually get theirs when the real haunting starts. The premise grounds it into the same reality as shows like Ghost Adventures and Buzzfeed Unsolved, where you the audience is left to decide what they believe in. Grave Encounters tells you it's a set-up and then you watch Lance Preston, a man pretending to believe, finally meet something real that he can't explain and as the audience you get to watch his skepticism turn to terror when it's far too late for him and everyone else he's with.
Personally, I would love to see Justin Long play a fictionalized version of himself as the host of a paranormal investigation show and see the plot play out through that lens. I think it would be really fun and fall in line with a lot of the modern ghost hunting shows that are out now. Either way, I'm excited to see what's in-store for Grave Encounters and I'm glad that the original team will be involved!