‘V/H/S’ is terrifying mayhem that pushes the audience’s tolerance level

V/H/S, the new horror anthology film, is not for the casual audience member looking for a good popcorn thriller. This film, running nearly two hours, is a nonstop exercise in mayhem, and only those viewers willing to withstand the dread will survive. For genre lovers, the film is a strong entry in the horror pantheon.

You need to love found-footage flicks in order to appreciate the warped tale of V/H/S. It’s a cross between The Blair Witch Project and A Clockwork Orange, although rarely achieving such mastery.

The entire piece is bookended by a film called Tape 56, directed by Adam Wingard. Within this story line we are introduced to the premise behind V/H/S. Essentially, a group of guys with malicious intent decide to burglarize a country home, in order to find a secret VHS tape. This is par the course for these hooligans, who are prone to videotaping their sick antics for distribution on the Internet.

When the guys enter the tucked-away house, they find a lot more than they were expecting. Sitting in a chair is a corpse, and spread out in front of him is a network of televisions and VHS tapes. The guys decide to pop a few in and begin watching. What they see on the television screen becomes V/H/S.

The first official found-footage film is called Amateur Night, and it’s perhaps the most gruesome. Directed by David Bruckner, the sordid tale is about a couple of guys and their late-night carousing. There’s never any explanation of why the cameras are rolling, but we are given a voyeur’s view of the action. After the guys leave the bars with some newfound girlfriends, they head back to a hotel room, where the carnage begins. Amateur Night proves to be a cautionary tale about who you invite inside.

Second Honeymoon is directed by genre favorite Ti West, and it’s one of the weaker segments. Once again we’re in a hotel room, following a couple around a weekend trip. Again, they are into videotaping everything about their lives, which makes the premise somewhat far-fetched. The action eventually turns darker and darker, and although West is able to build up the suspense, the payoff is a letdown.

Tuesday the 17th, directed by Glenn McQuaid, begins like a stereotypical slasher flick. A group of young friends head out to the woods for a weekend of fun. Again, they decide to tape their action. When they end up at a lake, one person dishes on the horror that once happened in this forest. It should come as no surprise that the horror returns. What starts off as tiresomely generic premise actually becomes somewhat original by the end. There’s no explaining the grand finale, which is still confusingly interesting.

The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger, directed by Joe Swanberg, is a narrative built around a video chat. This is one of the only segments where the “found footage” makes sense. Unfortunately, the story is empty of any real resonance. The big “revelation” feels too manufactured.

10/31/98, directed by a collective group of filmmakers known as Radio Silence, is the highlight of V/H/S. The story follows a group of guys (spotting a trend here?) as they look for a good Halloween party. As they enter a darkened house and start searching for the partygoers, anything and everything in the world is thrown at them. This segment is worth the price of admission.

You’ll notice I don’t make mention of the acting in any of the films, and that’s intentional. These assembled actors are never able to carve out complete characters. They are stand-ins, intended to elicit scares. They’re all as strong as they need to be — nothing more, nothing less.

V/H/S is an interesting experiment that pays off on a number of fronts. The entire cinematic experience is dreadfully powerful, and the atmosphere created by these films is difficult to endure. This will likely turn off many viewers (as it should), but for those looking for a few found-footage scares, the film is an intense gift with a no-holds-barred attitude. Viewer beware.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• V/H/S

• 
  

  2012

• Directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Ti West and Radio Silence

• Starring Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes and Kentucker Audley

• Running time: 116 minutes

• Rated R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, pervasive language and some drug use

• Rating: