COUNTRY: USA
STARRING: Various unknowns
DIRECTED BY: Ensemble effort
RUNTIME: 115 minutes
RATING: 18A
I don’t think I’ve fallen in love with a horror film as instantaneously as I have with V/H/S. When I saw the trailer some time ago on Bloody-Disgusting,I thought “Hmmm, it looks sick, twisted, scary, funny… all of those things at once”. And the film promises to live up to that feel you get from the trailer. While the film isn’t in its cinematic release as of yet, and while a wide release seems out of the question, it really does deserve a wide cinematic release (hopefully sometime close to Halloween). While garbage like The Apparition seems to be filling cinema auditoriums and what not, it’s nice to be able to see a group of directors that really care about real horror.
V/H/S is a great movie because it has something for everyone in it. If you like Vampires, then you’ll love it. If you like demonic possession type horror, then this is for you. If you like campy horror comedy and black humour, then this is for you. Clocking in at 115 minutes, this marks the first time the anthology format has been brought to “found footage” shores, and as sick of the format as you may be, the film certainly manages to make the most out of it.
Without spoiling anything, here’s a short summary of the stories in order:
The first tape is essentially just an introduction which shows the gang of thugs, who discover the VHS tapes, going around and doing things like attempting to rape a girl, and breaking into a house. They are informed they have to steal a VHS tape from the house… except the sumble upon a crate of them, and a dead body. While the rest of the gang searches the house, one watches them all:
–AMATEUR NIGHT: Three guys go about with a pair of digital video camera glasses for a night on the town- getting drunk, smoking drugs,etc. They pick up two chicks, one of which is very unusual. When they attempt to have sex with her, they discover a shocking secret: she’s a vampire!!!!
–SECOND HONEYMOON: A girl decides to go on a road trip with her new boyfriend, across the grand canyon. They decide to hit up every desert town in the horizon, however things get just a tad bizarre when one night, a strange girl knocks on the door, asking them for a ride, which leads them to believe that they’re being followed.
–TUESDAY THE 17TH: this is a parody of the typical “stupid teenagers goto a cabin and do stupid bullshit then get brutally slaughtered” thing. It’s very well done and quite funny, I must say.
–THE SICK THING THAT HAPPENED TO EMILY WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER: this is a series of Skype conversations between the eponyomius “Emily” and her boyfriend, who is studying across the United States. She both keeps feeling this weird thing in her forearm and on top of it, her house is haunted.
–10/31/98: one Halloween night, a group of drunk guys go to a house that they are led to believe is the site of a party… And then it turns out the house is empty, except for a strange activity going on up in the attic.
I found this movie on iTunes, which was listed in the “Fantasia Film Fest” rentals section. While an iPad on a road trip back home from BC may not have been the best means of watching it, it nonetheless still managed to be a fun and scary time. While I’m getting tired of the whole found footage thing, that didn’t keep the film from being one of the best horrors to comeout in a while. As for what I think of each segment:
Amateur Night: This was a fun, fast and funny vampire story. The girl playing the vampire was cute and while the idea of webcam glasses seemed a tad bizarre, I loved the level of shocks/laughs in it. The being was a tad abrupt, I liked it. 4/5
Second Honeymoon: the only one of the segments I didn’t like. It felt out of place and the suspense was a non entity- didn’t feel nervous for the characters and though the twist was shocking enough, the buildup to it wasn’t enough. 2/5
Tuesday the 17th: a fun and quirky spoof. Some questionable dialogue (“I’d fuck me. Would you fuck me?” “yeah I probably would”) aside, I really enjoyed it, and I liked the idea of the killer being hyper-realistic, it really made it scarier. 4.5/5
…Emily…: This was my favourite of the films. There is a sense of unsease throughout the segment; the big twist at the end was shocking and comes out of nowhere- I’ll admit I was wide-eyed when the twist came, and when the whole cycle repeats again, that’s a great sinister way to end the story. 5/5
10/31/98: a very odd short, but I liked it. I liked how it was mostly in black and white. The crappy picture quality adds to the unsettling feel, and the last 5 minutes are heart poundingly intense. 4/5
So really, if you were to scrap Second Honeymoon and perhaps tighten up 10/31/98 a bit, this would be a perfect film. Other than those quibbles, I think it’s safe to say that while V/H/S may be far from perfect, it’s fun to watch and has something in store for all horror fans. And if you get a chance to watch it- do not turn it down, you will regret it!
4/5
Life at the barrier 