Sanatorium Review (2013)

Synopsis

A paranormal investigation team, known as “GhostTrackers,” visits the abandoned Hillcrest Sanatorium on New Year’s Eve. The team is investigating the building’s history of hauntings and rumors of missing children. As their investigation deepens, members of the team begin to disappear, and the evidence they leave behind, captured on their own cameras, becomes the primary record of their fate.

My Thoughts on Sanatorium

Good Points

Performances

Nobody’s overacting or hamming it up for the camera here, and all the reactions – fear, confusion, disbelief etc all feel like how real people might respond in the same situation – well, most of the time, this is found footage after all!

Effective Use of Location

An asylum setting is always a good thing, and the production team clearly made the most of the setting, which help create a claustrophobic, uneasy mood.

Strong Opening Setup

The film introduces the characters and environment in a way that hooks you in and makes you curious about what is to come.

Atmosphere Over Effects

The film builds all the tension through sound, space, and stillness, and it does have some eerie moments even if they are quite predictable.

Bad Points

Predictable Structure

Sanatorium unfortunately follows the same pattern as many others in the genre, and it’s a formula that’s been done so often it does all feel a bit mechanical at this point.

Too Many False Alarms

There are a few genuinely creepy moments, but they’re diluted by too many fake outs, where the film teases big scares that turn out to be nothing again and again.

Flat Final Act

The ending is the biggest letdown in Sanatorium, as after spending so much time building some tension through quiet and restraint, the film shifts gears into more conventional supernatural chaos, and while it’s not terrible, it does all feel forced and predictable.

Occasional Weak Visuals

Even though the filmmakers wisely avoided overdoing CGI, a few visual effects do sneak in and they’re not great, but thankfully they’re pretty brief, but each time they show up, they break the illusion of realism the movie works so hard to build.

Repetitive Pacing

I like a slow-burn horror when it earns it, but Sanatorium drags a bit too much in the middle, with long stretches of walking down dark corridors without much payoff start to wear a bit thin.

Lack of Distinct Identity

While the film avoids obvious mistakes, it never finds a unique voice of its own, and while it’s competently made, it is not really that memorable, as there’s nothing here that really separates it from dozens of similar/better found footage ghost stories already released.

Final Thoughts on Sanatorium

Sanatorium does some things right but it just struggles to stand out, and while I respect that it goes for realism, atmosphere, and subtlety rather than cheap jump scares, but when the story follows such a familiar path, it’s hard for the film to leave a strong impression on you.

It definitely doesn’t bring much new to the table, and while I don’t regret watching it, it’s not a film that I will remember too fondly, but if you like Grave Encounters and Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, you will probably find something to like here to make it worthwhile enough, just.

Sanatorium Trailer
Sanatorium on IMDB
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