I must admit I do tend to find out about obscure, gory horror films...well mostly obscure gory horror films anyway, from a certain friend of mine, and I found out about this film from her. The concept, was slightly intriguing I'll admit that, so when I found that it was coming out, this past week I believe it was, I, obviously, got a hold of it.
'V/H/S' follows a group of petty criminals who are aiming to make it big. They receive a job from an unknown guy (In fact we never see this guy) who asks them to go into this one house and steal a single, solitary video tape. While looking for the tape amongst a house full of them, we get to see what exactly is on these tapes, and we see that they're not exactly kid friendly.
The film does exactly the same thing 'Movie 43' did, it ruins its own concept. It doesn't throw short films at you left, right, and centre like 'Movie 43' did, so we can get a bit more story and more depth into the characters. Or at least we should if the film didn't do what the Asylum's 'Monster' did and constantly cut, shake, turn into static, or do anything else to interfere with watching it.
Not only that, but there's a huge plot hole as to how these shorts got onto video tape in the first place. One was done on a laptop, a few on digital cameras, one was done through glasses! I can only assume there's a memory card in it, though those glasses also appear to be indestructible. But my point is, how do all of these films end up on what is effectively a dead technology?
Setting that aside, these are some really intriguing short stories, so interesting and entertaining that they're better than the main narrative, which you can actually say there really isn't a plot. Although that's probably because the short stories actually make an effort for you to like the characters, unlike the "petty criminals" who you struggle to like, with the main example being them sexually harassing/assaulting a woman. Actually that was a problem with the protagonists in the first short 'Amateur Night', who (With the exception of one) treated women more like sexually exploits rather than actual people.
The acting, is actually really good. I have to give particular praise to Hannah Fierman for her portrayal in 'Amateur Night', simply for the energy for what she brings to her character. I certainly look forward to seeing her again in other stuff. There's also Stephanie (Sophia Takal) who was actually the first protagonist in this film I actually liked. Though I did actually miss her name being mentioned. That was actually a problem with most characters in this, not hearing their bloody names. Though for most of the time it's because we aren't told them. Heck, even subtitles just say 'blonde guy' or for Stephanie's case 'woman'.
Now, is this film scary? Hmmmmm not really. There are some creepy bits, like 'The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger' (Even if the ending did make it the weakest of the lot, Besides the main narrative of course), and the climax of the main narrative, but it plays more as an action flick rather then a horror. I suppose it's mainly because of those video defects that the film has, it ruins the horror aspect. The scares just tend to be more miss than hit.
So, like 'Movie 43', this film is ruined by its own concept. The wrap-around just seemed pointless and made the film too long, any CGI shown isn't that good, the scares are mediocre at best and the camera losing picture goes beyond annoying by the time the half hour mark comes along. But it does still have its good bits, some great acting, and some really intriguing short stories. Give it a try, but don't expect a masterpiece.
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