Every time I watch a ‘found footage’ film I question why this sub-genre still exists. I can’t think of a single one I liked. Cloverfield, the movie that seemed to restart the genre (after the brief hurrah of Blair Witch) was just ok and most of the films of this type I’ve seen since have been abysmal. New directors keep trying to do different things with them, mostly to explain why the hell someone would run around filming when people are trying to kill them, but they all have failed to impress.
V/H/S follows a petty gang who are hired to find a video tape in a seemingly abandoned house. They find stacks of VHS tapes and start playing them in turn, watching horrible events unfold.
The first story at least finds an inventive way around the whole filming concept by having one of the cast wear spy glasses with hidden cameras. Some friends decide they should have him pick up a girl and shoot amateur porn with the glasses, because surely all college students want to do that? In a shocking twist one of them picks up some sort of vampire creature. This film pretty much sets the mould for the rest, which considering they’re written and directed by different people are all incredibly similar. For about 20 minutes you see some mundane events, there’s a twist and the short is over!
The shorts cover a wide range of horror sub-genres from slasher to exorcism with a Friday The 13th-like escapade in between. However, they’re all too similar and you just know everyone will be dead by the end. The only thing that truly changes is how they are shot.
One of the shorts even uses an Apple Mac’s FaceTime feature to be more modern, which is actually a good way around the “Why the fuck are you filming this?” problem, but the story itself is ridiculous and involves aliens. The ‘Friday The 13th’-esque one features a slightly clever gimmick, where the monster has to be filmed to be seen and is probably the best of the lot to be honest.
As for extras, there are several making of features, which provide some good insight into the filmmaking process. There are also interviews with actors from the film, basically just saying how much they enjoyed making it, along with some outtakes. The best feature is the alternate ending to the final short, which actually makes it different from the others by having the cast survive. This would have at least have set it apart from the rest.
Overall Verdict: A bit of a found footage train wreck that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
Special Features:
Trailer
Alternate ending
Behind the scenes
Helen Rogers Interview
Simon Barrett interview
Outtakes
Reviewer: Matt Mallinson