V/H/S is a disturbing film-a hit or miss affair where even the misses are so sickeningly gory that you cannot help but watch. The film is like pizza-even when it is bad-it is still better than none of it at all. The film is compiled into five segments with a sixth running segment involving amateur crooks stealing a rare VHS tape from a spooky house. I can only talk about the segments to a minimal degree because-to be honest-the segment's twists are most of the plot itself.
The first segment, and by far the worst is about three party boys-Shane, Patrick and Clint who experience a night they will never forget-so to speak. The second is about a couple named Sam and Stephanie who get a mysterious knock on their hotel room door one night but is it what it seems? The third is about a group of friends-Wendy, Samantha, Spider and Joey who go hiking in the woods but this is not just any ordinary part of the woods. The fourth and definitely the best is about a couple who web chat every night named Emily and James. Emily experiences supernatural entities although James is skeptical but what is making James so unsure about Emily's claims? The fifth and final one is about a group of friends named Chad, Paul, Tyler and Matt who are driving up to a party When they arrive they find some strange things happening-none of which are a party.
The film does do some daring things including some look away or be sick to your stomach moments. These involve skin, blood and naked bodies among other things. The film does use way too much shaky cam, however and often feels as if it is trying to be sickening just from the camera work alone. The whole group of unknown actors do a nice job of making everything believable even if the whole found footage style does become a bit much. There are also some nice things done with the fact that the film is called V/H/S. It really does have the look of an old Tales From The Darkside/The Twilight Zone episode. Also-the film moves at a nice pace even if two hours is a bit too long for a film such as this.
In the end-I enjoyed V/H/S. The film itself is no great shakes but it is intense, original and effectively creepy horror anthology. I can see why something like The Apparition goes wide while V/H/S goes limited. This is due to the fact that the latter is too daring and not tame enough for most people. However, if you are a true horror film fan then give V/H/S a shot. It is significantly more original than the mainstream horror films of today.
(3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, pervasive language and some drug use)
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