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Rev Horror

V/H/S

Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Chad Villella, Ti West, & Adam Wingard (2012)

A series of mysterious VHS tapes tell six tales of terror.


The VHS films have become a franchise all their own, with seven films now in the franchise (including the newly released V/H/S: Beyond), two spinoffs, and even a miniseries of shorts. It all started, of course, with the now-cult classic original, V/H/S, featuring a compilation of shorts from up-and-coming horror filmmakers, many of whom have become superstars in their own right. Whereas the later films in the series were often thematically linked and often contained more clever stories, the original leaned into the scares, with the only real thematic link being that they were found footage, VHS quality shorts. I'm a big fan of the series, but the original is still in at least the top three of the franchise.


The wraparound short features a group of hoodlums who run around making their own home movies and are tasked by a mysterious benefactor with stealing a VHS cassette from a home. When they find the homeowner dead in a chair surrounded by a pile of VHS tapes, they start to watch them, revealing stories about a succubus at a party, an unhappily married couple, and an alien abduction, among others.

The first film is a genuinely scary set of shorts with some excellent stories, and it's no surprise that several of the directors involved have gone on to much bigger things. West's segment, Second Honeymoon, is clever and twisty, and also stars fellow segment director Joe Swanberg and New Year, New You director Sophia Takal. Bruckner's turn for Amateur Night is probably the most effective short in the film, featuring a truly frightening performance from Hannah Fierman. Radio Silence, the team made up of Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, Martinez, and Villella, deliver a scary haunted house Halloween story on their way to being one of the most impressive directorial collectives in horror today.

Each of the stories are well done, and while a couple of them stand out above the rest, namely Amateur Night and 10/31/98, all of them are worthwhile. This in itself is a rarity for anthology films, and is a big reason why the original film took off the way that it did. Tuesday the 17th, a digitized slasher short that is the most violent in the film, is rad as hell, even if it's not technically as good as some of the others. All of the stories combine together to create one of the best anthology films the genre has ever produced... and it's quite possibly not even the best in the franchise that it spawned.

All in all, V/H/S left an indelible mark on the genre, helping to revitalize both found footage and anthology films while delivering a pitch perfect example of both. It's an elegant mix of subgenres that doesn't depend on a super interesting wraparound to tie them together, instead putting out a collection of shorts that are entirely unrelated and yet all work together to create something that is better than the sum of its parts. Your favorite V/H/S film is probably entirely dependent on which one contains your favorite short, and while this one doesn't have my favorite, it's likely got some of yours.


Who this movie is for: Anthology horror buffs, Short film fans, Physical media collectors


Bottom line: V/H/S is the OG, and it's still just as effective today as it was upon release. It was a refreshing idea for an anthology series, as evident by its continued impact on the genre today. While I would probably argue its not the best in the franchise, it's still a fantastic film that's a hell of a lot of fun and often genuinely scary as well. It's the perfect film to revisit for Spooky Season, and it's definitely one you'll want to revisit every once in a while.



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