The Movie Log: 27/08/2012: V/H/S [2012]

V/H/S is a horror anthology that has been hyped about by Bloody Disgusting for months now, claiming to be both the rejuvenation of the horror anthology and the found footage genres. Now, these are some pretty bold claims, but word from both the horror and movie community has been generally positive towards it, and I was rather excited to see if V/H/S deliver on it's promises.

The question of course is whether or not it did deliver. Is V/H/S another great horror anthology to place amongst the likes of Creepshow and Trick R' Treat and does it breathe some originality into the found footage genre. The answer to both is surprisingly yes, and while V/H/S is by no means a perfect and flawless film, it is highly entertaining and delivers some decent scares. Considering I watched it in three chunks and in a well lit room next to a hallway full of people, I'd say that is impressive.

V/H/S' premise is that a group of misfits (kinda of a light term for a gang of vandals and sexual assaulters) are hired to retrieve a tape from some house by some unknown employer. Looking to score some money, the gang, who happens to be always video-taping agree and break into the home only to find more than they bargain for with a dead home owner and a pile of unmarked videotapes. Things begin to get stranger and stranger as they pop in the tapes and press play. In total there are 5 segments or "tapes" that appear throughout the overarching story which really makes for a sixth segment. The later, known as Tape 56 is an intriguing and unique way of explaining both the anthology and found footage nature of the film, even if nothing much is explained about what actually happens. Perhaps the tape they are looking for is the 56th tape, and we are going to another 11 sequels. Probably not.

No one should be allowed to review this movie without commenting on the mustache.

The first tape that is played is called Amateur Night, although the titles are never made known in the movie. Now, while the found footage aspect really falls apart in a later tape this tape is still a bit of a stretch considering that they have the technology for a pair of glasses with a hidden camera, yet the footage is somehow on a VHS tape. Perhaps if the guy was wearing a ridiculous fanny pack it might have made sense. It does make sense however that the trio of friends would decided to try to use the glasses to record themselves having sex with women, which is exactly what this segment consists of them attempting. While this segment is definitely amongst the weakest two, it does establish a couple of important things. One: this movie is not restrained in the blood and gore department. Two: nor is it shy in the nudity aspect either. The Third is the most important however, as it establishes that the unexplained and supernatural are fair game, and V/H/S will not be bound by realism. I won't ruin the segment, but for anyone who has seen Little Deaths, it isn't very original, but it should be surprising for those who haven't seen it. In the end, it leave us with a lot more questions than answers.

The second tape to be put in the VCR is Second Honeymoon, and it is directed and written by Ti West. West is the only name I recognize in the movie that claims to headline some of the biggest current names in the horror genre. I think that speaks towards the validity of that statement, which I would say is quite misleading. But what ad campaign isn't these days? Second Honeymoon does however bare all the trademarks of Ti West, with a large focus on building the characters for most of the movie, and once you have any kind of understanding or attachment to them he unleashes the horror upon them quickly and brutally. This tape features the best acting, which is impressive considering the male lead also directed a later segment. But, as I have come to realize, all of these tape segments feel almost like teasers to bigger stories, with not a single one doing anything beyond showing us a horrific event that happened to be captured on camera. As good as those stories are, they never give us a solid conclusion.

This isn't your average sex tape. But there are probably worse.

The third tape, titled Tuesday the 17th, literally feels like someone took the second act out of a Friday the 13th sequel and called it a movie. Featuring four friends in the woods and an unrecordable supernatural slasher killer need I say more? While I can understand that things seem more realistic as fond footage by the fact that we only get parts of the story, this segment gives no introduction and just plops us in the middle of a half told story and then leaves us with a hell of an unexplained cliffhanger ending. Now, V/H/S has a runtime of almost two hours, which is great for fitting in about 6 different segments. However, I think that as the weakest, Tuesday the 17th could have been cut out for a stronger movie. After a mediocre opening, the second tape as well as the main story arch are picking up nicely, until this one slows things down a bit. However, the next two segments are really strong and well done.

The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger has a lot of things going for it, besides the name issues. First, it adds a refreshing element to the continuous hand held camera footage we've been watching in the fact that this is actually a recording of a series of Skype calls between a boyfriend and girlfriend. While it is best not to consider how a Skype convo ended up on a VHS tape, the segment offers a change from the previous two slasher tapes with a large supernatural element. Emily video calls her boyfriend James whenever something strange happens in the apartment she believes is haunted. From the webcam of her laptop we see the typical dead children haunting incidents, which actually put me rather on edge, and I would vote this tape as the scariest. Then things take a complete turn for the insane, generate more questions, and leave us with a wish that this had been a full movie.

She is just realizing he isn't paying complete attention. What is he looking at?

The last segment, entitled 10/31/98 is set on Halloween. How did I know that? With one final stretch to explain found footage, our camera man, who is dressed up as a nanny-cam, joins up with three friends to attend a Halloween party. When they arrive at the house, they find it unoccupied and as they explore some strange poltergeist like scares occur and the group starts to think it is a "haunted" house attraction. Then things get even crazier as The Exorcism of Emily Rose meets Drag Me To Hell for a terrifying conclusion I don't want to give away. While still lacking to many answers, this is the most exciting, and entertaining segment and also has some spectacular special effects. At this point, the main story Tape 56 has already wrapped, leaving 10/31/98 to completely close out the movie, and I'd say it does well, as my personal favourite.

If you want to get really picky, you could even say that V/H/S contains a seventh segment, which is really just glimpses of a sex tape that the "movie" had been recorded over. Once in a while, it cuts to this, even though, I don't think that is exactly how things would work. Let's just say that V/H/S bends more than a few rules of technology, but who knows, maybe it is brings VHS tapes back? Overall, I'd say that V/H/S delivers 6 interesting stories, that all work well as both found footage and as an anthology. Unfortunately, like any anthologies, some segments are weaker than others, and that V/H/S would have benefited from cutting one of the 5 tapes out. I would have also liked a lot more answers, particularly on some of the stranger endings, but it also builds a good atmosphere leaving such a heavy air of mystery. By the last segments, V/H/S is actually getting rather scary, particularly the second last tape giving me a few good scares. In the end, I find the concept of an individual having collected all these horrific tapes as proof of the supernatural in the world to be a very interesting idea, and I wouldn't mind hearing a sequel is in the works. But would it be able to breath life into the genre a second time?