V/H/S, 2012
Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of the "found footage" genre of horror films. I know a lot of people don't like then, and I can understand, as a lot of them fall victim to some of the same old cliche's and tropes. There are so may FF films out there, that it becomes very difficult to do it right. "V/H/S" is a film that this Horror Nerd feels got it right, mostly.
For "V/H/S" a group of indie horror directors (some of them relative newcomers), comes together for a "found footage" horror anthology, consisting of 5 short films woven into a main, wrap-around story. The individual shorts cover various horror themes, slasher, occult, ghost-house, etc. The main story revolves around a group of delinquents with a penchant for assaulting women and destroying property, all while running around with a camera. One of the group describes an offer to break into a house and steal a particular VHS tape. The group is all over it, as it seems like a simple job, but when they arrive at the house there are VHS tapes scattered everyone, and a dead man is slumped in a chair. As they begin to watch each tape, the real mayhem begins.
The separate short segments are varied, and definitely a little uneven. In “Amateur Night,” three young men who are out for a night of typical shenanigans, involving booze and sex, they find that they get a lot more than they bargained for with a particular young lady. The next segment, “Second Honeymoon” involves a young married couple trying to reconnect via a trip out west. When a mysterious stranger knocks on their hotel room door, things take a turn of the worse. In “Tuesday the 17th”, four friends take a hiking trip up to a lake in the woods. Seems nice! However, their trip happens to fall upon the anniversary a terrible string of murders and our merry band discovers that the killer seems to be still lurking around. The fourth short, “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” portray a couple maintaining a long-distance relationship via webcam, and when unexplained phenomena begin to trouble the girl, she and her boyfriend try to capture the phenomenon on tape, with surprising results. The final segment, "10/31/98" follows four friends out to attend a Halloween party at a stranger's house, only to stumble upon some sort of cult ritual which unleashes violent forces. The wrap around story attempts to connect all of these, but it's main purpose is to build up a sense of dread among the people who have broken into this house, as their own terrible events continue to unfold.
OK, so what did I like about "V/H/S"? I liked a lot about it. What we have is an attempt to revive the horror anthology genre, combining it with the found footage style that we have grown accustomed to, and it succeeds on many levels. It also gives several indie filmmakers, such as Ti West (House of the Devil) and David Bruckner (The Signal), a chance to shine. I enjoyed the wrap around segment which, while a little unsteady, slowly ratchets up the viewer's unease, as in "what have these people gotten themselves into?" Throughout the various segments, and the main narrative, there are some good jump scares, and some good old fashioned bloody mayhem. The "shaky cam" aspect, which is what drives most people crazy about these types of films, is kept to a reasonable level, but still gives you the sense that what we are watching really happened.
What I didn't like? Well, the quality of the individual segments is definitely uneven, which is to be expected with any anthology. "Amateur Night", "Tuesday the 17th" and "10/31/98" are the best, and the other two are mediocre. “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” is more likely to leave viewers wondering what happened as opposed to scaring them, and "Second Honeymoon" is just a little too slow and the climax a little too lame. Finally, as far as the main narrative is concerned, I never got the sense that the characters really understood that something bad was happening to them. Either that, or they considered themselves too "badass" to care. However, I think all of these are minor negatives.
Overall, in an ocean of crappy sequels, prequels and remakes, finally, we have a film that is original and delivers, for the most part, on its promise. If you don't like found footage films, then please stop ranting and raving about them. I don't like country music, but I don't think that this means that there are no talented country music artists. Of the recent spate of ff films, this one is definitely a standout!
The Horror Nerd's rating: 4 of 5 broken eyeglasses!
For "V/H/S" a group of indie horror directors (some of them relative newcomers), comes together for a "found footage" horror anthology, consisting of 5 short films woven into a main, wrap-around story. The individual shorts cover various horror themes, slasher, occult, ghost-house, etc. The main story revolves around a group of delinquents with a penchant for assaulting women and destroying property, all while running around with a camera. One of the group describes an offer to break into a house and steal a particular VHS tape. The group is all over it, as it seems like a simple job, but when they arrive at the house there are VHS tapes scattered everyone, and a dead man is slumped in a chair. As they begin to watch each tape, the real mayhem begins.
The separate short segments are varied, and definitely a little uneven. In “Amateur Night,” three young men who are out for a night of typical shenanigans, involving booze and sex, they find that they get a lot more than they bargained for with a particular young lady. The next segment, “Second Honeymoon” involves a young married couple trying to reconnect via a trip out west. When a mysterious stranger knocks on their hotel room door, things take a turn of the worse. In “Tuesday the 17th”, four friends take a hiking trip up to a lake in the woods. Seems nice! However, their trip happens to fall upon the anniversary a terrible string of murders and our merry band discovers that the killer seems to be still lurking around. The fourth short, “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” portray a couple maintaining a long-distance relationship via webcam, and when unexplained phenomena begin to trouble the girl, she and her boyfriend try to capture the phenomenon on tape, with surprising results. The final segment, "10/31/98" follows four friends out to attend a Halloween party at a stranger's house, only to stumble upon some sort of cult ritual which unleashes violent forces. The wrap around story attempts to connect all of these, but it's main purpose is to build up a sense of dread among the people who have broken into this house, as their own terrible events continue to unfold.
OK, so what did I like about "V/H/S"? I liked a lot about it. What we have is an attempt to revive the horror anthology genre, combining it with the found footage style that we have grown accustomed to, and it succeeds on many levels. It also gives several indie filmmakers, such as Ti West (House of the Devil) and David Bruckner (The Signal), a chance to shine. I enjoyed the wrap around segment which, while a little unsteady, slowly ratchets up the viewer's unease, as in "what have these people gotten themselves into?" Throughout the various segments, and the main narrative, there are some good jump scares, and some good old fashioned bloody mayhem. The "shaky cam" aspect, which is what drives most people crazy about these types of films, is kept to a reasonable level, but still gives you the sense that what we are watching really happened.
What I didn't like? Well, the quality of the individual segments is definitely uneven, which is to be expected with any anthology. "Amateur Night", "Tuesday the 17th" and "10/31/98" are the best, and the other two are mediocre. “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” is more likely to leave viewers wondering what happened as opposed to scaring them, and "Second Honeymoon" is just a little too slow and the climax a little too lame. Finally, as far as the main narrative is concerned, I never got the sense that the characters really understood that something bad was happening to them. Either that, or they considered themselves too "badass" to care. However, I think all of these are minor negatives.
Overall, in an ocean of crappy sequels, prequels and remakes, finally, we have a film that is original and delivers, for the most part, on its promise. If you don't like found footage films, then please stop ranting and raving about them. I don't like country music, but I don't think that this means that there are no talented country music artists. Of the recent spate of ff films, this one is definitely a standout!
The Horror Nerd's rating: 4 of 5 broken eyeglasses!