Despite some very really misogynistic qualities that strangely peppered their way through every one of the short films, and the fact that basically every character was a douchebag bro that you couldn't wait to watch get slaughtered, V/H/S was not a bad little horror film. It was helmed by about 5 different directors, each crafting a compilation of stand alone shorts that a couple of criminals have stumbled on after receiving a job to break into an old house and steal a particular video tape.
Like all found footage movies, the gimmick wears thin after the first hour or so, but one of the things that worked in V/H/S's favor was that it was made up of separate stories, so when one of them got a little old, it wouldn't be too long before we moved onto the next one. And each story (being shot from a first-person-point-of-view) lent itself to unique and original opportunities to tell the story.
I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it after my first viewing, but it did stick with me over the next couple of days. Any movie that manages to do that, I figure did something right. Upon second viewing a couple months later, I decided it was pretty damn good. Despite a couple overly-shakey moments, and a couple other faults; the good definitely outweighs the bad. And like any anthology, there are always a couple stories that are better than others. I remember liking the first short (with the Succubus girl) and the last short (with the haunted house) the most. Especially the haunted house one. I'd recommend that one multiple times over. A really unique, truly creepy short film.
So, what are you doing Dave; I thought you were reviewing V/H/S/2, why are you rattling on about the first movie? Well, because I want to set it up in case you're not familiar with the series. On first glance you might lump it in as a cash-grab riding on the success of the Paranormal Activity franchise. After watching it though, it's abundantly clear that this series has more originality in any one of the short films than any of the Paranormal Activity movies (and I LIKE the Paranormal Activity franchise!).
Just get to the goddamn point already Dave!
Okay, sorry. I felt like I needed a build up. And while we're getting everything out there, I'm going to do without the "forward slash" marks in the title: V/H/S/2 from now on. They're just too much of a pain to type each time. From now on, I'm just calling it VHS2. Okay? Good. Break.
Jesus Christ. Just talk about the damn movie already.
Right.
Anyway, the sequel kicks off in the tradition of the first, by showcasing a chick's boobs before going into any plot whatsoever. Then we meet two private investigator's hired by a college kid's mother. Apparently her son has disappeared, and when they arrive at his house, they find a collection of old VHS tapes. It looks like her son was into some weird snuff-film type hobbies, and these particular tapes have some kind of curse-type-deal associated with it if watched in the right order. (it almost brings to mind The Ring, or the short film "Rings" which bridged the gap between the first, excellent The Ring and the second god awful sequel, The Ring Two).
The investigators begin checking out the tapes and we the viewer are treated to their viewing party. One thing this film clears up right away is why everything is on a shitty old VHS tape when we're clearly living in a digital age. I don't exactly remember what the reason was, but rest assured, it was addressed and noted. Nice job sequel. You're fixing problems created by your predecessor and you're barely out of the starting gates... lets keep it up.
The first film is a very effective ghost story, all told from the perspective of a robotic eye. The main character lost his eye in a car accident and had it replaced with a prototype artificial eye that is recording everything he sees for later examination. This puts us quite literally, in the protagonist's shoes. Or, in his head, as the case may be. He returns to his Malibu beach front property (what the hell-? how did this asshole afford this place? Thank God it's haunted...) and finds out it's haunted. Kind of. Apparently, ghosts are around us at all times, and some people can become more susceptible to noticing them. (bet you wish you would've just went with the patch now, huh guy?) I won't give much more away, but this one actually got to me a little. The acting was poor, the ghosts were a little generic looking, but it had a great way of keeping the tension up. The fact that we saw the ghosts as he saw the ghosts really puts you in the middle of the scares. It's not like there is a moment where you can distance yourself from the horror by being a casual observer. You're never watching something lurking behind the main character when he has his back turned- you are experiencing it right there with him. When he reacts, you react. It's a pretty brilliant concept actually. There's a couple moments when he runs to the bathroom to escape the ghosts, and then peeks out the door to see if it's safe. I can't describe it any other way other than, it's like you're right there, peeking out the door too. You want the story to keep going, but you also don't want him to see anything, because, shit, if you were in his place (which we are), you would prefer not to suddenly have a ghost lunge at you. But you're watching a horror movie, so at the same time, you're here to see the fucking ghosts. It's a really weird dichotomy. You want to be scared but you don't want to be. Overall, this was a good one. Not terribly original (The Eye, comes to mind, which is actually a remake of a Japanese movie to begin with), but I think it does it well. The final scene could've been a little more graphic to really push the envelope and take the vicarious viewer all the way to the brink, but it felt like they held back a little, which is too bad. Okay, I want to talk about it, so I'LL SPOIL IT. DON'T READ THIS IF YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH IT...Still here? Okay- eventually, the main dude can't take it anymore and cuts the artificial eye out with a straight razor. He's looking the mirror about to do it, then says, "I can't watch this," and looks at the sink and quickly pops the eye out with the razor. Now, this is a horror movie. An Unrated Horror movie at that. What a chance to do some really intense gore that frankly has never been done before. The protagonist cuts out his own eye, and the viewer has to watch from his own point of view. Talk about a missed opportunity. Then the ghosts break in, grab him and stuff the eye down his throat. It goes to static then cuts to black. Again. Missed opportunity. With all the cool camera equipment medical technicians have, this would've been a great chance to cut to a shot from a scope camera going down his throat and into his intestines or something, all still from the first person point of view of the artificial eye. Oh well. Not a bad short, but I feel like they fumbled it at the end. They went for a field goal when they could've pulled off the touchdown. (and that will be the only sport reference you'll ever hear me make).
The next short was decent. A unique take on the zombie genre. We are watching from the Go-Pro cam of a mountain biker as he journeys down a trail in the woods. He stumbles upon a nice slice of zombie madness, gets bit, becomes a zombie himself, and then starts going after other people. It was an original idea to show everything from the zombie point of view, or more accurately, from the point of view of the dude becoming a zombie. Overall, there's nothing wrong with this one. It's got some nice gore, but zombies themselves aren't terribly engaging. Maybe that's why no one has ever done this before. It works as an interesting experiment, perfect for a short film, but that's about all you need. It ends nice as the zombies crash a kid's birthday party and wreak havoc on a bunch of mini-van sporting families. Also- an interesting note: this was directed by the Blair Witch crew... so, uh, there's that.
The third short, which is quite a bit longer and a lot more fleshed out than the rest, was definitely the standout of the bunch. It follows a documentary crew who happen to be filming a mysterious cult. The cult leader is a shady guy, who after some convincing, allows them to film behind the walls of their colony located out in the middle of nowhere. Inside, they witness a brainwashed collection of men, women, and children, all obeying the words of "The Father," and planning for the impending rapture. To say this short goes balls out would be an understatement. I don't want to go into any more detail because the less you know going in the better. All I'll say is, just when you think it's reached it's limit, it goes in a whole different direction, and just keeps getting more extreme. And who directed this one, you ask? Why, the genius behind last year's most badass action flick, "The Raid." Enjoy.The last story brings to mind the older Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante flicks, focusing on a group of kids (although they're a lot more foul mouthed than Steven would've allowed) intent on terrorizing their old sister and boyfriend during a slumber party. And then a bunch of aliens show up. This is a lot of fun, but the camera is attached to a dog for about half the run-time, if not more, so the shakey-cam used to represent the moving dog makes it a little hard to grasp what's going on. Still, it's a solid entry, with some of the better acting (and from young kids to boot), and some really creepy shots of the aliens stalking the youngins.
All in all- the VHS franchise is two for two. And the sequel achieved the rare feat of being a lot more enjoyable than the first. It feels like the creators listened to all the complains from the first film, and made them the top priority to fix when prepping the follow up. Less douchey characters. Less shakey camera. Fewer short films, allowing for a little more fleshed out plot development this time around. And it feels like they upped the blood and body count as well. Considerably. As any great horror film should.
I'm not saying these are the future of horror, or any all time greats; just simply a couple good little experiments that are worth a watch for the change of pace and the originality. I couple times I was so impressed with the plot and some of the ingenious scares, I found myself wishing that I was watching an actual "MOVIE," with more production value and without the found footage gimmick. But that would kind of defeat the purpose, and then it might not feel so unique as a result, so I guess, just keep doing what you're doing VHS... keep up the good work, and see you next year?
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