[5.75/10] V/H/S (2012)

V/H/S (2012)

Brief review: Hitting US theaters on October 5 2012, "V/H/S" is a horror anthology that consists of six 'found footage' shorts, created by five different horror movie directors and one directing quartet. The big hype around this movie set our expectations high, but sadly "V/H/S" ends up as a let down, and far from being one of the best of its genre, despite the variety it offers. There are two solid shorts, two mediocre ones and two terrible ones, and as a result, "V/H/S" as a whole is 'average at best'. Adam Wingard's main story, "Tape 56", is nothing more than a pathetic excuse to showcase the rest of the shorts and doesn't work on its own at all. Nobody will care for it, nor will even attempt to understand it. David Bruckner's "Amateur Night" is all over the place and has tons of pointless dialogues and obnoxious characters, but more patient viewers will be 'rewarded' with some good gore and creepy images. Ti West's "Second Honeymoon" is boring as hell, but at least the twist ending is shocking, unexpected and works well. Glenn McQuaid's "Tuesday the 17th" not only feels trashy and amateurish, but the whole story is just plain stupid. Joe Swanberg's "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" is voyeuristic, nasty, bizarre, and everything but scary. Radio Silence's "10/31/98" successfully blends different horror genres, and it's the scariest, most memorable and effective of the bunch.

Overall summary: Insanely overhyped, yet still a decent effort, "V/H/S" is an ambitious 'found footage' horror anthology with its highs and lows, that offers some gore, a couple of good scares and creative ideas, but at the end of the day, it's nothing especially groundbreaking.

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