V/H/S Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A group of punks are hired to steal a rare vhs tape from an old man but along the way watch some of his collection.

Review: There are two things you need to know ahead of time to gather whether you will be interested or not in this film: it is an anthology movie and in the found-footage style. For me, I appeciate both sub-genres, and it was cool to see a combo of the two. There are five stories total with the wraparound segment being filled in a little more with each ending. The wraparound is wasted potential in my opinion; there is very little explained and with such an eerie atmosphere you'd think they'd come up with something more tightly executed. The gist is that the punks watch a story and then are picked off, but then one more story plays after that. Why would they blow the opportunity to make the old man, killing the punks, be the one to watch the final segment?! Anyway, the first story is fun with some drunk idiots who bring home a succubus/vampire creature. This one had a creative use of the camera and had a great ending. The second story is freaky and asks that age old question: how well do you ever really know someone? I must say the stabbing scene seemed so realistic it felt like I was watching a snuff film or something. I give a lot of credit to the special effects people on that segment. The third segment is the weakest with shoddy acting and a lame Jason nod; there was also a lack of direction of some sort that made this story feel so disjointed. I really loved the buildup in the fourth story, but the ending was not the direction I would have taken it in; it is pitched as a ghost haunting but then comes aliens?! I liked the mystery and edge-of-your-seat vibe of this story and much is left to wonder about. The final story has a lot of cool effects with a somewhat cliched plot about a haunted house and exorcism, but it made a satisfying conclusion. I wasn't all that scared, but I love the use of atmosphere and the pacing of each story was appropriate. On the downside, there is some questionable acting, lack of answers, and a lot of people are burnt out on found-footage films. This was a decent film overall, but a must-see if you're a fan of these genres. I applaud the creativity applied to this film with some interesting and original stories and concepts. The reason I only rated this film as high as I did was because not all the stories were that good, and there were many instances of wasted potential. I understand there had been a lot of hype surrounding this film, but I think it managed to deliver for the most part.

Notable Moment: During the second segment when we discover the wife plotted to kill her husband with her lesbian lover.

Final Rating: 7.5/10