V/H/S (2012)
Brief review: Hitting US theaters on October 5 2012, "V/H/S" is a horror anthology that consists of six 'found footage' shorts, created by five different horror movie directors and one directing quartet. The big hype around this movie set our expectations high, but sadly "V/H/S" ends up as a let down, and far from being one of the best of its genre, despite the variety it offers. There are two solid shorts, two mediocre ones and two terrible ones, and as a result, "V/H/S" as a whole is 'average at best'. Adam Wingard's main story, "Tape 56", is nothing more than a pathetic excuse to showcase the rest of the shorts and doesn't work on its own at all. Nobody will care for it, nor will even attempt to understand it. David Bruckner's "Amateur Night" is all over the place and has tons of pointless dialogues and obnoxious characters, but more patient viewers will be 'rewarded' with some good gore and creepy images. Ti West's "Second Honeymoon" is boring as hell, but at least the twist ending is shocking, unexpected and works well. Glenn McQuaid's "Tuesday the 17th" not only feels trashy and amateurish, but the whole story is just plain stupid. Joe Swanberg's "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" is voyeuristic, nasty, bizarre, and everything but scary. Radio Silence's "10/31/98" successfully blends different horror genres, and it's the scariest, most memorable and effective of the bunch.
8 comments:
Think I've about hit my limit of found footage films for a while. Although we don't see many horror anthologies anymore.
Alex, I'm a sucker for found footage horror films, but I admit that most of these that came out lately were quite bad to say the least.
This one left me disappointed, but I'm looking forward to another horror anthology that will be released later on this year, called The ABC's of Death.
I heard that majority of these shorts are slasher flicks. Is there any truth to those rumors?
Kaijinu, no not really. Glenn McQuaid's "Tuesday the 17th" is the only short out of the bunch that has something to do with the slasher genre. But hey, don't be upset.. there's lots of gore for you to enjoy. :)
All found footage? That sound is my head thunking against my desk. I know you love the genre ...Well, you know where I stand. :) I'm trying, but it seems like every other horror film coming out is found footage. They're multiplying like reality TV shows. ;)
I did enjoy reading your review. You've really taken these shorts to a higher level. They're quick to read, but sophisticated and show off your extensive knowledge of film.
Mel, all of them. You haven't heard about this project before? I thought you have.
My expectations were really high, because everyone who saw it claimed it was scary, original and everything, but it didn't turn out that great. Don't bother checking this one out.
Thanks, hon. :)
Not a fan of this I see. Your right, the stories aren't great, but they didn't bother me too much. There was some gore, which I'm a sucker for, and some of the stories had their moments. What I really didn't like was the story they used to set up showing the VHS tapes. It was pointless, and didn't make much sense. Great review!
HorrO, I had a love/hate relationship with this movie. The hype made my expectations high, but the movie didn't meet them. I agree, the main story was a pathetic excuse to showcase the VHS tapes. Thanks! :)
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