Okay We have
another winner here. I just checked out V/H/S On Demand and DAMN!
Now I don’t
know if everyone will be into this flick but I definitely am. I had heard of
this flick because it premiered this past January at Sundance and it had a
small buzz surrounding it when It screened there and then I had seen the
trailer on AOTS and I knew that I had to check out this flick and then review
it and here it is and I am not disappointed .
Now first
off I am not going to focus on the Found Footage genre because if you are familiar
with my reviews you will know that I am a fan of that particular genre because
it happens to be one of my lines of work as I track down lost tapes for people
as well as I convert them to a digital media so naturally this flick would
catch my attention.
Now the plot
is pretty hard to follow because of the editing but here is how it goes.
From the
beginning of the movie we are introduced to some not so pleasant characters as
they are running around an unnamed town stalking people with a video camera and
at some points they attack people and rip the women’s clothes off and film the
whole thing and then they sell the videos in the underground market where they
make $50 a tape.
The guys are
then informed that the will make much more money if they break into a man’s
home and steal a VHS tape that a particular person wants.
Upon arrival
they find the owner dead in front of multiple television sets and VCRs and they
don’t know which one is what they are looking for so they decide to play them
all.
What they
are shown are five stories in the found footage format that tell some pretty gruesome
short films that leave you saying WTF.
The first
tale is a trio of college kids who decide to take a try at amateur porn with a
hidden camera in a pair of glasses where they go out and find two girls to go
back to their hotel room. That is all that I am going to give you there. Because
you have to see this flick.
The second
story follows a couple on their second honeymoon that has a stalker with a
twist that you will not see coming.
The next is
a group of college kids taking a trip to a lake to help one of their friends
deal with a trauma that she suffered a year earlier. This one is also pretty
creepy.
The next
story follows a couple communicating through webcams while they are
investigating if the girl’s apartment is haunted. This one also goes into a new
direction of creepy.
The final
story is an outing of a group of friends on Halloween night in 1998 where they
arrive at a party only to find out that they are in the wrong house.
All of this
with a wraparound where the thugs try to find out what is happening in this
house that they found these tapes in.
Now I have
to say that this movie is not for the weak at heart and it is definitely recommended
for the Hardcore Horror fan.
Most anthology
horror films follow a certain narrative and the Found Footage area is an original
idea to go.
Also in most
anthology films the first story and the final story are the standouts while the
ones in the middle strain to keep you interested the whole time. However this
movie all of the stories keep you interested and the climax doesn’t let you
down in the end.
Some of the
movie makes you wonder why this is on VHS especially the webcam chapter because
it makes the movie clearly taking place in the present day and it makes me ask
why the thugs in the movie are using VHS tapes when everyone else is using
DVDs. That is really my only issue with this flick and that is good thing.
The movie is
shot with many different types of cameras and you are then shown the deterioration
of VHS in the VHS chapters and the downgrade of Digital to Analog conversions.
The editing
is done masterfully however like I said earlier you need to pay close attention
to see when you are in another flick or when something else has cut in to the
video that you are watching.
18 Dead
Bodies
12 Breasts
with full frontal
11 Beasts
1 Knife to
the eye
1 Disemboweling
1 Compound
fracture
Throat
Stabbing
Throat
Slashing
Head
Stabbing
Throat
Ripping
Flesh Eating
Genital
Ripping
Heads
Rolling
4 Stars
Check it
out.
This movie was awesome. Ranks up there with Cabin in the Woods.
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