V/H/S

 

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.