Anthology movies don't get a good enough rap, as far as I'm concerned. Not only is this an example of a good one, it's also an example of a good found footage flick (yes, they do exist). The movie starts with a group of petty criminals who are being paid to break in to a house and steal a VHS tape. They find a body, a whole bunch of eerily staticy TVs, and an even larger pile of tapes. This story progresses slowly throughout the film, while acting as a framing device for five horror shorts.
Each one of these shorts has a different character, as each had different directors and writers. What the tapes have in common, though, is that they are all found footage, and all end gruesomely (though I rarely have any sympathy for any victims in the 'V/H/S' series, as they are all either annoying, horrible, or are having more fun than I am).
The first clip seems to be a cautionary tale, and features a group of hateful males being eaten by a freaky face-splitty woman. The found footage element is legitimized by one of them wearing glasses with an integrated spy cam. The social dynamics at play in all of these seem pretty good, and the writing is fair for all the clips. This one is pretty predictable (we all knew something was up with her as soon as we saw her, right?) But does feature some nice creature effects. Also I found the woman strangely adorable, even as she was having sex with and then ripping the throat out of a guy. She did like him, he just shouldn't have run away.
The second one is more of a bore fest, but ends with a pleasing twist. A ridiculously boring couple are going on a stupid trip and filming it so they can have stupid memories, and the guy is complaining constantly about getting a sun tan, washing hands after touching horses, etc. I was rooting for the murderer, who turned out to be the wife's lover, which was cool. Apart from the twist at the end and the surprisingly sudden death scene, this one wasn't very imaginative, both in conception and filming style. Filming style is where the whole movie suffers, unfortunately, as there is only so much you can do with found footage.
The third one features a group of young adults going to the country (why can't it ever be a group of people in their 40s in the city?) Turns out one of them is using the others as bait, or something, for an evil thing with a red head that causes the camera to freak out. The characters in this one all seem realistically insecure - but each in their own special way, of course. The horror elements are mostly just blurs though, and the gore is short lived.
Then there's one about a long distance relationship (so we know it ends badly) and... maybe... aliens? I've seen enough episodes of 'The X-Files' to recognise what's going on, anyway. There is some horror here, but not really many scares. As with the boring couple one, the most interesting part is the basic premise, and the twist that this creates towards the end.
Finally there is one about a group of tragically likable guys who are going to a Halloween party (so, Americans again then). They either turn up at the wrong place, or the party is really shit, as they end up interrupting an exorcism and saving the "girl" who, of course, turns out to be evil, and kills them all. The plot of this one isn't brilliant, but the horror parts are good, and it's refreshing to have some characters that are actually likable.
Overall, sure it's pretty dumb, but the heavy music that plays at the end over old footage of the gang trashing abandoned houses seems to tell me that they are aware of this. It's dumb-fun. A good one to watch late at night with a friend, or whatever. If you don't like one short, maybe you'll like the next one, and the found footage element is explained in a not too terrible way.
Overall, sure it's pretty dumb, but the heavy music that plays at the end over old footage of the gang trashing abandoned houses seems to tell me that they are aware of this. It's dumb-fun. A good one to watch late at night with a friend, or whatever. If you don't like one short, maybe you'll like the next one, and the found footage element is explained in a not too terrible way.
V/H/S: 47.0