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Don't fucking leave without me.
Matt to the team while leaving to grab the equipment in Grave Encounters

Matt White, whose real name is Juan Riedinger, is one of the main characters in Grave Encounters (2011), and whose archival footage is briefly seen in Grave Encounters 2 (2012). He is portrayed by the real life actor of the same name, Juan Riedinger.

Matt is responsible for all the technical equipment with the Grave Encounters team, and is often seen setting up equipment and monitoring the cameras and audio for any paranormal activity.

Grave Encounters (2011)[]

Matt White, the technical brain of the "Grave Encounters" crew, arrives at Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital alongside his fellow crew members, Lance Preston, Sasha Parker, T.C. Gibson, and the later addition, Houston Grey. With his technical expertise, Matt is primarily responsible for the equipment, ensuring that every chilling moment of their paranormal investigation is captured.

Matt with EMF

Matt explaining an EMF meter to the camera while sitting in headquarters

The investigation begins with a series of interviews, during which Matt is busy setting up and ensuring the proper functioning of cameras and sound equipment. He observes the interviews, and is often seen smoking while holding a boom mic. During one interview, Kenny scolds him for smoking inside the building, which Matt obliges by putting out his lit cigarette.

As night falls, the crew locks down in the hospital. Initially, Matt remains focused on his technical duties, and Matt's personality begins to show as a goofy fun-loving guy, pestering Lance while he's on the phone with Kenny, and pretending to be a demon on camera. However, the atmosphere shifts palpably when a wheelchair moves by itself, and a door slams shut, trapping T.C. A turning point comes when Sasha's hair is mysteriously lifted by an unseen force. Matt, who later views the recorded footage in headquarters, is in complete awe. This moment marks a shift from a controlled investigation to a confrontation with unknown forces that seem to defy all rational explanation.

As the crew attempts to regroup and understand what's happening, Lance becomes lost in the maze of hallways, as he navigates the confusing corridors with his camera, trying to document their twisted journey. The layout of the hospital seems to change inexplicably, adding to the crew's disorientation and fear. Meanwhile, Matt is unable to get a hold of the team over the walkie-talkie's, and once the crew finally finds each other again, Matt tests the radios, which mysteriously work again.

With the crew uneasy and Lance frustrated that he is unable to capture further evidence of the supernatural, the crew decides to call it quits. When Matt is sent to collect cameras from around the hospital, and he ventures out alone. Matt is surprisingly quick and brave as he gathers the cameras, but is suddenly distracted when he enters the window room. Matt is shocked when he finds a window opened, the same window that Kenny had pointed out earlier. He attempts to contact Lance, but is interrupted when he hears a door close in another room. Convinced it's just the team walking around nearby, Matt goes to investigate, which results in his temporary disappearance.

As the night begins to unfold in terrifying ways, Sasha urges the crew to look for Matt, fearing he might be injured. The crew then diverts their attention to finding Matt, but not before being terrorized by the living patients of the asylum.

Matt isn't heard from for hours, when his voice is suddenly heard over the walkie-talkie, commenting on how freezing cold he is. Lance reassures him that they will find him, and T.C. asserts that Matt couldn't be further than 200 yards away due to the radios' short ranges. The team mistakes a woman in a nightgown as Matt, which ends up leading them to further chaos.

The crew, minus Houston, finally find Matt, but his mental state has drastically changed. He is found rocking back and forth, wearing a hospital gown and wristband, and speaking incoherently, as if he has become one of the asylum's patients. His behavior is erratic and delusional, suggesting a profound psychological breakdown or supernatural influence. Matt comments that an unnamed individual will let them leave once they are better, and that this man can help them feel better, just like he did Matt.

After a short rest, the team is awoken by several arms coming through the ceiling and walls, accompanied by aggressive growling. Fleeing from the room, the team ends up in the bathrooms, with the familiar empty bathtubs littering the ground. However, they hear the sound of water, and find one bathtub full of blood. Plotting their next move, they turn to see Matt standing over the tub, looking into the crimson liquid. Lance asks T.C. to pull Matt away from the tub, and when T.C. complies, T.C. is grabbed by a figure from inside the bloody water, pulling him fully into the tub. Unable to find T.C. inside the tub, they tip the tub, pouring out all the blood, but find nothing inside.

Matt after jumping

Lance and Sasha discovering Matt's body moments after he jumped down the elevator shaft

The Grave Encounters survivors find an elevator shaft, and Lance comes up with the idea to climb down the shaft and use the service tunnels to find the other buildings, as Kenny had mentioned they were all connected. Lance says he needs to find an object able to pry open the elevator doors, and leaves Sasha and Matt on their own while he searches for the object. Although Lance finds a metal pipe, he also accidentally encounters a violent tongueless patient, who chases Lance back to the group. As Lance and Sasha are holding off the deformed patient off, Matt picks up a camera, records himself laughing, and then deliberately falls to his death down the elevator shaft, screaming while he does. This act marks a tragic end to his journey, one plagued by fear, confusion, and ultimately madness.

After the tongueless patient leaves, Lance and Sasha look around for a once-again missing Matt, only to discover his body at the bottom of the elevator shaft. The pair climb down the elevator shaft until they reach the bottom, confirming Matt's death with a pulse check.

Trivia[]

  • Dr. Arthur Friedkin seems to get his hands on Matt and checks him in for Acute Compulsive Disorder linked to childhood phobia, which is heard directly from Matt while muttering to himself when he is finally found by the team.
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