What actually happens
A tour with a caretaker and a fake psychic
Grave Encounters was a paranormal reality show that was canceled after five episodes when its crew vanished. The producer, Jerry Hartfield, presents the recovered footage of the sixth. The crew is Lance Preston, the ghost hunter, Sasha Parker, the occult specialist, Matt White, who runs surveillance, T.C. Gibson, the cameraman, and Houston Gray, a medium who is faking it. They have been invited to the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where strange events have been reported for years. The caretaker, Kenny Sandoval, shows them around by day and explains the history of Dr. Arthur Friedkin, who ran unethical experiments and lobotomies on his patients until they killed him.
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A door slams, then the building gets chatty
At night, the crew locks itself in, sets up base camp near the entrance and puts cameras throughout the hospital. For a few hours nothing happens, until T.C. records a door slamming behind him. Houston tries to contact whatever is responsible, and the incidents get bolder and more hostile. As the crew packs up to wait for Kenny, Matt goes alone to collect the cameras and disappears. When neither he nor Kenny returns, the crew forces the front doors, but they lead to another hallway, and so do the other exits. It is still dark outside even though the clocks say morning. They meet a girl whose face twists, and Houston is strangled by an invisible force and killed by a flash of light. Matt turns up in a hospital gown, mad, and says the only way out is to be cured by the residents. T.C. is pulled into a bathtub full of blood, Matt throws himself down an elevator shaft, and a demon attacks Lance and Sasha.
The tunnels and the rats
Lance and Sasha look for an exit in the hospital's tunnels. Sasha falls ill, and a mist takes her while she and Lance sleep. Lance wanders alone, frightened and unstable, and survives by eating live rats. He finds a door into Dr. Friedkin's operating room, which holds an altar and evidence of satanic rituals. The scene people dread most comes near the end: Lance turns around and sees Friedkin's ghost with several nurses, who drag him screaming to an operating table. The camera goes dark briefly. When it is switched back on, a lobotomized Lance announces that he is cured and allowed to leave, and the footage ends there.
The ending, explained
Houston is killed in the hospital by an invisible force, T.C. is pulled into a bathtub and disappears, and Matt throws himself down an elevator shaft. Sasha is carried off by a mist while she and Lance sleep in the tunnels. Lance, alone, finds Dr. Friedkin's operating room and an altar, and Friedkin's ghost and several nurses drag him to an operating table. The camera cuts out. When it is switched back on, Lance has been lobotomized and announces that he is cured and allowed to leave. The footage ends there.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: none, there are no dogs in the film.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Grave Encounters scary?
Yes, Grave Encounters is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. It has a lot of jump scares and a constant feeling that something is about to happen, and the fear mostly fades by the next morning.
How does Grave Encounters end?
The crew is picked off one by one, and Lance is dragged to an operating table by Dr. Friedkin's ghost and several nurses. The footage ends with a lobotomized Lance announcing that he is cured and allowed to leave.
Does the dog die in Grave Encounters?
No. There are no dogs in Grave Encounters, so no dog dies. A rat is killed and eaten in the tunnels.
Is there a post-credits scene in Grave Encounters?
Nobody has confirmed whether Grave Encounters has a scene after the credits.
Why can't the crew leave the hospital in Grave Encounters?
The front doors open onto another hallway, and so do the other exits. Matt tells the others that the residents have to cure them before they can leave.
