These two found footage horror anthologies are highly uneven, though fans of the genre (and the gimmicky subgenre) may find quite a bit of worthwhile material here. Both volumes present several short films that are bound together (very loosely) by what's termed a "Frame Narrative"; an ongoing story interwoven throughout the unrelated short stories. For what it's worth, I think the two frame narratives used in these two films are rather dumb and uninspired, doing absolutely nothing for the overall experience. The time, budget and talent utilized therein should have been reconfigured to possibly use with producing one more uninterrupted short film in each volume.
On DVD and BLU RAY - V/H/S (2012) -
"Tape 56" - (This volume's Frame Narrative) - Five stupid thugs who enjoy videotaping their destructive exploits and petty crimes are paid handsomely by an anonymous third party to break into a certain home and steal a single videotape. Once inside the substantial residence, the group find a room with several TV sets displaying static and hundreds of unmarked video tapes strewn about. Finding hundreds of other unmarked tapes in the basement, and catching brief glimpses of a mysterious old man (underground cartoonist, Frank Stack) passing in and out of the shadows, the group splits up (always a great idea in a horror tale) to search the house. The stories presented here come from a tape which one simpleton is charged to skim through- he strangely disappears as does each of the other cohorts who come into the room (conveniently one by one) to sit down for a viewing.
This is weak, disjointed stuff, with only a couple of eerie moments buried beneath a wealth of ignorance.
4.5 out of 10
Director: Adam Wingard (You're Next)
Cast: Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Kentucker Audley, Adam Wingard, Frank Stack, Sarah Byrne, Melissa Boatright, Simon Barrett and Andrew Droz Palermo
"Amateur Night" - Three college-aged buddies aiming to enjoy a night of hard partying and hell bent on concluding the evening's activities by filming their very own sex tape definitely get more than they bargained for. One of the three, a well-intentioned geek who hesitantly agrees to wear a pair of glasses outfitted with a spy cam, makes a fateful connection with a bizarre, withdrawn girl who tags along. Turns out she's a toothy she bitch with an open mind, a healthy appetite and very bad feet.
It's fairly frightening stuff and effectively tense, with the footage acceptably serviceable. The conclusion plays out amongst a few too many witnesses, though the final shot is decidedly haunting.
7.5
Director: David Bruckner
Cast: Hannah Fierman, Mike Donlan, Joe Sykes, Drew Sawyer and Jas Sams
"Second Honeymoon" - From Writer/Director Ti West (The Innkeepers), this tale of a vacationing couple enjoying their second honeymoon while unknowingly being stalked by a knife wielding stranger is a slow burn psychological thriller with a gruesome conclusion and a twist that, though in need of one more brief moment of exposition, ultimately works. It builds the strongest characters and subsequent tension of any of the vignettes featured in this first volume, with superior camerawork to boot- a fan of the old principle, "Keep It Simple Stupid", it's my pick as the best overall segment amongst the six.
***Of Note*** Joe Swanberg (the Writer/Director of 2013's most excellent Drinking Buddies) plays the loving husband here.
8.0
Director: Ti West
Cast: Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal and Kate Lyn Sheil
"Tuesday The 17th" - (Yes, the first Tuesday following any Friday The 13th) - A group of idiots (it's impossible to refer to them as friends) ambling aimlessly around the woods are picked off by a relentless, "glitchy" assailant- an apparent situation set up by the sole survivor of a previous massacre aiming to exact revenge on the entity. It's poorly written and conceived, with some very bad footage, amateurish gore effects and ultimately downright lame. It's by far the worst offering of both volumes.
2.5
Director: Glenn McQuaid
Cast: Norma C. Quinones, Drew Moerlein, Jeannine Yoder, Jason Yachanin and Bryce Burke
"The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger" - From Director Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies), the footage here comes in the form of recorded video chats between a young woman and her soon to be physician boyfriend, with strange happenings occurring throughout their sessions in the female's apartment. What begins eerily enough quickly devolves into an unnecessarily contrived, brain dead mess.
Repeatedly terrorized by ghostly apparitions and unexplained wounds, who in their right mind wouldn't call the police or simply leave? Who would walk around, in darkness and with their eyes closed, trying to capture glimpses of "boogers" using their laptop as a recording device? The setup and ultimate explanation simply doesn't work on any level.
3.5
Director: Joe Swanberg
Cast: Helen Rogers, Daniel Kaufman, Liz Harvey, Corrie Fitzpatrick, Isaiah Hillman and Taliyah Hillman
10/31/98 - A group of costumed men aiming to attend a Halloween party end up in the wrong damned house at the wrong damned time, experiencing a host of paranormal happenings before stumbling upon an exorcism which quickly gets out of hand.
The camerawork (one of the party is dressed as a Teddy Bear, complete with nanny cam) is rather grainy but acceptable, with a myriad of surprisingly good effects shots of the poltergeist variety. The narrative moves briskly, building to a satisfactory crescendo- this is worthwhile stuff that brings to mind a popular utterance-
"Try to do something nice and it'll end up biting you in the ass every time..."
7.5
Director: "Radio Silence" (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet, Justin Martinez & Chad Villella)
Cast: Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet, Paul Natonek, Nicole Erb and John Walcutt
Average score of the six vignettes- 5.5 out of 10
Runtime: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, pervasive language and some drug use
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On DVD and BLU RAY - V/H/S 2 (2013) -
"TAPE 49" - (This volume's Frame Narrative) - Two private detectives, a romantically involved tandem, are hired by a worried mother to locate a missing college student. The two sleuths break into the young man's apartment to find a similar setup featured in the initial film's frame narrative- several TV's displaying white noise in a darkened room, with countless VHS tapes scattered about. Figuring that they can recover some clues as to the young man's whereabouts from playing the tapes, the female PI is charged with watching them as the male PI decides to splinter off (here we go again) and search other rooms.
This is more lame and senseless material, rife with lapses in logic and void of anything interesting or scary. From Writer/Director Simon Barrett (he wrote 2013's under-seen gem, You're Next, and co-wrote 2004's guilty pleasure, Frankenfish), it's a shame the creative forces behind the first film couldn't come up with anything better than this.
4.0
Director: Simon Barrett
Cast: Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsey Abbot, Simon Barrett, Mindy Robinson, Monica Sanchez Navarro and L.C. Holt
"Phase 1 Clinical Trials" - Director Adam Wingard (You're Next) also stars here as the recent recipient of an experimental bionic eye (it also records sound for added narrative convenience!) that goes a bit haywire. Shortly after returning home from the surgery, he begins experiencing harrowing encounters with ghostly figures of the angry variety. A buxom female stranger who has experienced similar problems mixes into the fold as a plot device to provide a loose explanation of just what the hell is going on.
Wingard is a poor actor, as is Hannah Hughes, and I never felt any sympathy for either of them while they endured the ordeal. It's vaguely insinuated that the pissed off spirits terrorizing him may have been the victims of a car wreck that he may have been the cause of, though others may interpret it differently. Shot from his new eye's POV, of course, I couldn't understand why our protagonist didn't simply close his "afflicted" eye, relying on his remaining good eye until he could seek help. Furthermore, it's rather peculiar that he apparently never blinks...
This is a middling entry at best, hampered by the aforementioned amateurish performances, irrational behavior and a few too many lapses in logic for my tastes.
5.0
Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Adam Wingard, Hannah Hughes, John T. Woods, Corrie Lynn Fitzpatrick and Brian Udovich
"A Ride In The Park" - Shot entirely from a Go-Pro style camera mounted to a cyclist's helmet, this particular entry gives audiences a first person account of what it would be like from a Zombie's POV. Shortly after entering a forested bike trail for his routine exercise, a rather unfortunate fellow is attacked by a Zombie and infected. After a brief period, the poor living dead soul gets a bit hungry and goes on a lumbering trek through the park. There are several events which play out expertly, including a humorous segment where a helpful husband and wife duo fall victim to our central character, with the story climaxing at a young girl's birthday party on the park grounds.
The narrative moves at a brisk pace and is highly innovative, featuring some relatively sharp camerawork and fresh direction. The rather poignant conclusion even displays a bit of heart... amongst all the blood, gore and brains, that is.
8.5
Director: Eduardo Sanchez and Greg Hale
Cast: Jay Saunders, Bette Cassatt, Dave Coyne and Wendy Donigian
"Safe Haven" - Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption) co-Directs this story of a documentary crew who is allowed unprecedented access into an Indonesian cult's inner workings. What starts off as an ominous drama intensifies into a blood-soaked freak-show of violence, chaos and left-field weirdness. It's the strangest and most graphic entry by far, with the footage supplied via several hidden cameras being worn by the film crew. Expect ritualistic mass suicides, a wall-crawling imp, exploding bodies, a horde of zombies, a gruesome birth and a horned, winged behemoth looking for love in all the wrong places.
This entry fires on all cylinders to present a hellish, absolutely berserk and wildly entertaining experience that should stick in the memory for quite some time.
Highly Recommended
9.0
Director: Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Huw Evans
Cast: Fachry Albar, Hannah Al Rashid, Oka Antara, Andrew Suleiman and Epy Kusnandar
"Slumber Party Alien Abduction" - Directed by Jason Eisner (Hobo With A Shotgun), it's exactly what the title implies- a group of teens and preteens enjoying a sleepover (conveniently without parental supervision) that is soon interrupted by an otherworldly onslaught. The footage here is captured by a camera attached to the family dog- though an interesting idea, it isn't utilized very well, with the camerawork often downright atrocious. I imagine that's to be expected given the dual nature of the gimmickry employed here but there's far too much that transpires that was rendered incomprehensible.
A sequence where a boy and the aforementioned dog are stalked by the slender, grey beings in a barn attic marks the highlight of the story. This would have been a good opportunity to inject some much needed levity into the situation and end on a positive note, though the filmmakers would have none of that here.
The added sound effect of an intermittent blaring horn noise (some kind of alien attack call meant to disorient it's victims) is annoying as hell. A sharper, more focused execution would have worked wonders for this particular entry.
6.0
Director: Jason Eisner
Cast: Riley Eisner, Rylan Logan, Samantha Gracie, Josh Ingraham, Cohen King, Zack Ford, Jeremie Saunders, Tyler Ross and Hannah Prozenko
Average score of the five vignettes- 6.5 out of 10
Runtime: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for graphic and bloody violence, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language
V/H/S 2, though featuring only five entries as opposed to it's predecessor's six entries (and significantly shorter), is superior to the first volume. I wish there were some way to pick and pull my favorite shorts from both films to create the "perfect" personal horror anthology, but oh well. I also wish the filmmakers would have spent more time and care in their presentations, more specifically in creating stronger frame narratives. I though it would have been cool to have presented both volumes as the ongoing viewing sessions from a newly hired Governmental security guard/records keeper (working the night shift, of course) who lets curiosity get the better of him and periodically delves into the secretive, archived material.
Why not a veteran actor familiar with the horror genre with a great sense of comedic timing (for levity's sake)?
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