LogFAQs > #965054209

Johnbobb - Didn't really have the same wow factor it had when I first saw it a decade ago. The inevitable trouble with short-film collections is that, without some sense of overall cohesion, they can only really be judged by their best and worst parts. Some of the found footage direction here is REALLY rough, at times being a headache to even watch. Most of the segments at least have something good going for them, aside from the overarching "story" which is kinda trash and completely unrelated to any of the short films. Really the whole thing would be better with that all cut, as it would at least save it from dragging as much. There's also not much cohesion here. The first four films all have a vague theme of manipulation behind them, but none of that relates to the beginning story, and the theme is also dropped by the less-than-stellar last segment. Then there's the issues of several of the stories just not making much narrative sense. Amateur Night and Emily are probably the highlights of the film, but even those are pretty flawed.

Less popular opinion: Lily, not a deal-breaker.

fortybelowsummer - I like found footage for the most part. I feel like more people hate it than like it, and nobody actually loves it, but I enjoy what it provides. The problem with an anthology like this is that usually there are some weaker parts that bring down the whole thing. With a short format you definitely dont get much character development and the stories can feel rushed or unimaginative. I really dont want to get into each individual film, but the overall package is not great. Its basically that each segment, a couple of which are definitely good with the rest being not so good, takes too long to build up. Then it crescendos and you start all over again so its just an uneven, chaotic experience. Thats not to mention when the jittery camera work is almost unwatchable at times. I know this lends toward making you feel uncomfortable but its not much fun. The framework story that holds it all together is bad too. I will mention one specific thing: that freaking succubus girl in Amateur Night is terrifying. Just the way she looks and acts, I seriously cant even watch her. I like you. Goddammit, moving on.

PrinceKaro -
An anthology of found footage horror shorts that is a very mixed bag. Basically these burglars have to steal some special VHS tape from this weird house, and they play all the segments trying to find it or whatever.

Of great note is the constant video and audio glitches that plague every single short, yeah VHS tapes never had the greatest quality, but this is so ridiculous and hammy that I wonder if any of these directors have ever used a real VCR in their life.

First up, and easily the worst of all the segments, which is just these three awful dudes pick up a girl who turns out to be a harpy or something and everyone gets mindlessly eviscerated. It is utter rubbish.

Second is the vacation video of a couple who do boring things on a road trip but the wife is a secretly a killer lesbian or something.

Third segment is these kids go camping in the woods and get murdered by Missingno. It is rote and uninspired.

Fourth is where this guy is on zoom calls with his girlfriend, who is seemingly being haunted by ghost children.

The final segment basically runs with the concept 'what if the people in the haunted house were too stupid to realize they were in a haunted house', which is an interesting idea but one executed very poorly here.

The quality varies wildly between these segments but none really shine or stand out. All are hampered immensely by the found footage thing, bad 'acting' and bad 'camerawork' are pretty much the norm, and far too much of the film is spent watching lame home videos while waiting desperately for something spooky to happen.

red13n - A bunch of shorts that never seem to aim for anything beyond a bit of random garbage and people dying. Nothing here that really felt like it wanted to stick with me, just boring. Even when they seem like they might be conceptually interesting, they are too short to ever really have any depth and it just makes it difficult to care. There is some overhanging plot to this with some VHS tapes or whatever, but it doesn't really have much cohesion with the rest of the movie to really matter nor is it all that interesting on its own.

Lightning Strikes -
I like you!

There is only one way to fully evaluate this film, and thats to break it down short by short then the whole:

Tape 56: The wrap-around framing device, while it is competently directed (by Adam Wingard no less) it greatly weakens the whole film. The protagonists are so unbearably hateful it somewhat sours you on the whole thing. This really should have been minitiuarised or cut. The disappearing corpse was fun but thats about it really.

Amateur Night: The monster here is really creepy and effective, and the gore effects are great. This does establish a memorable creature and is the most consistently scary of the shorts, its easy to see why this got a spinoff. Unfortunately it is again hampered by have protagonists that are the most horrendous people imaginable, though at least you get to see their penises get ripped off. On the whole it was a success, but a flawed one.

Second Honeymoon: Now this is more like it. Super unsettling throughout with a great twist ending. The first time the stalker takes the camera is really, really chilling, and the hints of this persons presence throughout help add to the feeling of something not being quite right. Overall a very good short though I did wonder why they were filming it.

Tuesday the 17th: Incredibly disappointing unfortunately, the concept of somebody using their friends as bait in a horror setting is very strong, and the glitch killers are a cool visual. Unfortunately thats let down by weak acting and a clunky script. Also the fact that the lead fails to get her revenge makes her plan to use her friends to lure them out seem like a terrible plan, either have her win or leave that out. Such s shame.

The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger: The best of them all. This is a great horror story, with a really fun twist - or rather three twists. Even just the idea of ghosts turning out to be aliens was enough to make me like this, but its really effective in general. Also is this the first example of a film presented as somebodys computer screen? I loved this.

10/31/1998: This was nearly as good. Just a fun tour through a haunted house by people who think theyre just at a halloween party. All of the visuals and imagery is great, and the realisation that they doomed themselves by trying to do good is asad one. These are really the only likeable protagonists in the collection, and you do root for them. To that point I actually prefer the alternate ending for this one, I feel that it does fit the tone better by having them survive and laugh it off, which makes for a good contrast to the anthology as a whole and all its grim endings. Really enjoyable horror short.

Overall, V/H/S has some great stuff, but should have had its length cut down. You can lose the framing device and the third short and you would have a much stronger picture. I liked it but it could have been better than it was.

3/5

Biggest scare: I mentioned it already but the perspective shift in the second short was the stuff of nightmares.