There’s something about faux-found-footage horror that brings out the a**h*** in people. Put a camera on them and their worst traits come out. This is illustrated in “V/H/S” (2012), an anthology of five short films, plus a sixth that serves as a framing mechanism.
Still, the movie is so intense – propelled by great entries by David Bruckner (“Hellraiser” 2022) and Ti West (“Pearl”) — that I can’t deny I was left feeling unnerved and jittery. It’s not for casual horror viewers, but it achieves its aims.
As a story, “V/H/S” doesn’t make sense. A group of jerks – who record non-consensual “Girls Gone Wild” type of videos to make bucks – takes a job of stealing a VHS tape from a certain address. When they get to the house, the owner is dead in a chair. The criminals watch some of the huge collection of tapes on-site; these are the films we see.
“V/H/S” (2012)
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, Joe Swanberg, Chad Villella, Ti West, Adam Wingard
Writers: Brad Miska, Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Nicholas Tecosky, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Simon Barrett, Radio Silence, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Chad Villella
Stars: Hannah Fierman, Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal
In the weaker shorts, there’s no good reason why someone is recording it. Also, the films cheat sometimes with editing to different angles. I don’t understand that approach. The whole point of found footage is that you don’t edit it; you just “found” it. Still, I liked this project enough that I’ll check out the sequels (of which there are now five).
Here are my rankings of the six shorts in “V/H/S,” with the director in parentheses. (SPOILERS FOLLOW.)
1. “Amateur Night” (Bruckner)
A trio of despicable dude-bros pick up two women at a bar to have sex back at their hotel and secretly film it with a camera hidden in a guy’s glasses. Lily (Hannah Fierman) steals the show: She shyly tells Glasses Guy she likes him. It’s an interesting contrast of innocence with the shocking crassness of the pre-planned gangbang. Then Lily turns out to be a monster of myth (known as a “Siren”; a full-length version of this story would follow in 2016). Excellent monster effects and an orgy of nudity and violence both absorb and rattle the viewer.
2. “Second Honeymoon” (West)
A likeable-enough couple films their vacation in Arizona. It’s straightforward, but West achieves some mood. Then it hits another level with a great freaky concept: In the middle of the night, the guy is filmed sleeping. Then the camera moves over to the other bed to show the gal! Someone else is behind the camera! This easily holds our attention till the end, and West delivers a surprising (though plausible) reveal.
3. “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” (Joe Swanberg)
Two lovebirds have video chats, and the character building is good, as we learn they are sweethearts dating back to childhood. There’s a ghost in her apartment and – in a freaky sequence – she closes her eyes and walks through the unit, asking him to alert her when he sees the ghost. The ending somewhat explains the events (and the reason for the recording), but the villain’s goals are vague.
4. “10/31/98” (Radio Silence)
This one deserves credit for its CGI effects as a group of guys (refreshingly, not jerks this time) explore a seemingly empty house they’ve been invited to for a Halloween party. (One guy is dressed as a nanny cam bear, thus explaining the footage.) It’s clear the filmmakers found an architecturally fascinating house – with narrow halls and unique retrofittings, such as the door to the attic being in the bathroom – then came up with the “story.” The ending is more nonsensical than scary.
5. “Tape 56″/frame narrative (Adam Wingard)
This would’ve played better in traditional filming style, rather than as found footage. There’s no reason for the criminals to be filming their break-in and theft, thus completing a double-whammy wherein they are jerks and idiots. As expected (even if you haven’t seen “Saw”), the dead guy in the chair is not really dead, thus leading to a predictable ending. Disappointingly, we don’t learn why or how this bizarre collection of snuff-type films came to be.
6. “Tuesday the 17th” (Glenn McQuaid)
The CGI effects of the Predator-esque serial killer are great: He doesn’t clearly appear in this reality; it’s like he breaks through from another dimension of reality. But the characters and acting are terrible and the camerawork is overly shaky, thus sinking the short.