Grave Encounters 2 was released on iTunes on October 2, 2012, with a limited theatrical release in the United States, on October 12, 2012. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $8.2 million against a $1.4 million budget, but unlike its predecessor, it received generally negative reviews from critics.
Plot
Film student Alex Wright is a fan of Grave Encounters, a found footagesupernatural horror film which the entire public aside from him believes to be fictional. He posts an online plea for information about the film and receives a message from someone named "DeathAwaits6". The message leads Alex to the mother of Sean Rogerson, the actor who played Lance Preston in Grave Encounters. She believes that Sean is still alive but Alex discovers that she has dementia and does not realize that her son is dead.
Alex realizes the cast and crew from Grave Encounters are all missing or have died, except for the directors, the Vicious Brothers, who are actually interns of the first film's producer Jerry Hartfield and were not directly involved. Alex meets Hartfield, who confesses that the film was actual found footage. Discovering that the Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital is actually an abandoned asylum in Canada, Alex and his friends—Trevor Thomspon, Jennifer Parker, Tessa Hamill, and Jared Lee—travel there to meet DeathAwaits6 and discover a Ouija board. The group use it to communicate with the spirits, realizing that their online contact is not a person, but a paranormal entity, which turns violent.
The group make their way out before being stopped by a security guard. As they argue, the guard goes inside the asylum to investigate a noise. The group hear gun shots and go back inside to check what happened, finding that the guard has disappeared. They are attacked by the spirits and become separated; Jared gets lost and is violently hurled out of a window while Tessa has her head crushed by an invisible force. Alex, Trevor, and Jennifer regroup and witness as the guard is fatally electrocuted in a operation table. They manage to escape the asylum and return to their hotel, but the elevator leads them right back to the tunnels beneath the asylum.
Alex, Trevor, and Jennifer meet a lobotomized Sean and discover that he has been trapped inside the asylum, surviving on toilet water and rats for over nine years. Sean explains that the reason the asylum is haunted is due to Dr. Arthur Friedkin's satanic experiments and rituals which merged the spirit world and the physical world. He shows them a red door and reveals it is the only way out, but is wrapped in chains. Sean also provides them a map he created explaining how bigger the asylum is and how its layout constantly changes. While the group sleeps for the night, Sean, compelled by Dr. Friedkin, strangles Trevor to death and steals Alex's equipment to cut the chains on the door.
When Sean goes through it, he realizes that the door leads nowhere. The asylum's entities instruct a now-deranged Sean to kill Alex and Jennifer; they wake up and stumble upon Dr. Friedkin's satanic altar as he performs a lobotomy, then sacrifices an infant. Sean finds them and demands to hand over their footage in order to "finish the film", which is the only way to escape the asylum. During the struggle, a void opens up on the wall and sucks Sean towards an unknown fate. Realizing that Sean was being honest in how to escape, Alex kills Jennifer by smashing her face with the camera, thus finishing the film. He then exits the asylum through the door, which leads him to the Los Angeles outskirts and is arrested while walking down the street at night.
It is revealed that Alex's footage has been made into a Grave Encounters sequel, with Alex and Hartfield claiming that everything the public has seen is staged and that it is "just a film"; Alex also tells the public not to go anywhere near the asylum as it is not worth it as the footage cuts to a black screen with the numbers "49, 14, 122, 48". If searched on Google Maps, comes up as the approximate latitude and longitude coordinates of Riverview Hospital (actually at 49.25,-122.81), where most of the film's story takes place.
Grave Encounters 2 began production in late 2011 and was released on October 12, 2012. Early in production it was revealed that the film would be directed by John Poliquin, and only written by the Vicious Brothers.[1] The film's budget was $1,400,000. It was released on October 12, 2012 in a limited theatrical run, but released earlier in the month on iTunes for download.
Reception
Critical response
Grave Encounters 2 received negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 9% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9 out of 10.[2] Although it was panned, some critics praised the acting, especially Sean Rogerson's performance.
Other media
Cancelled sequel
In May 2015, the Vicious Brothers announced plans for a third installment, entitled Grave Encounters 3: The Beginning, but it never went into production.[3]
Reboot
On September 18, 2025, it was announced that an American reboot is in development, with Justin Long set to star, as well as produce alongside Kate Bosworth and the Vicious Brothers.[4] The reboot aims to "modernize the concept into a cinematic experience, heightening the dread, claustrophobia, and psychological terror that made the original a fan favorite".[5]
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