V/H/S

V/H/S

     The anthology film V/H/S is easily one of the better found footage horror films I've seen in awhile. The film is compiled of five different short found footage recordings that each delve into various fixations of cheap scare tactics and evil. The series of films reminds me of some extremely off the cuff episodes of The Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt. Usually the handheld, shaky as hell camera use can be nauseating for some, but in these shorts it makes the camera one of the main scare effects.
Whether it being Skype, mobile phone footage or VHS tapes, the handheld camera usage and varying types of film and digital footage create an eerie sense of unease, creepiness and nostalgia. V/H/S is worth your time if you enjoy these types of films and can make it through the handheld melange of footage. 

    V/H/S is an anthology of many micro-budget American Indie Filmmakers including Ti West, Joe Swanberg and David Bruckner, and was created by co-editor and editor-in-chief of Bloody- Disgusting.com Brad Miska. The film follows a group of misfits who are hired by an outside source to break-in to a house and steal an undisclosed videotape. Once in the house, which they realize contains a room with a dead old man and a various collection of VHS tapes in the basement and the dead man's room, they begin to have an unlikely and unsatisfying journey of there own. As they begin to watch the tapes they see a series of occurrences that are gravely graphic and disturbing murders that have happened to people that have taped vacations, conversations and parties. I will not spoil any of the story lines, surprises and suspense that are in each short but this film passed my expectations. I really enjoyed watching it and it proved to be one of the better chapters in the horror film library. It contained elements of the supernatural, monsters, graphic crime and murder, and without a doubt one of the best haunted house features to come around in a while. Visuals were fantastic in the all of the scenarios and showed the creativity of the filmmakers. What can I say but there was something authentic and nostalgic about seeing grainy VHS tape material.

     The best way to see V/H/S is at home, late at night with all the lights off. I love going to the movies, but with some of these On Demand films its nice to save a few bucks and watch it at home. The film flows fairly smooth with each story building on the suspense and fears from the next. The atmosphere is  

creepy and unsettling and creativity is fully alive and manifests a great feeling of uneasiness and dark humor. Horror can be tough and highly redundant in today's movie culture of cheap thrills and torture porn cinema, but with V/H/S, this group of low budget indie filmmakers have brought forth a twist on the found footage subgenre of horror cinema and a fun piece of escapist entertainment.