The Horror Show
V/H/S 2
Directed by Simon Barrett
& Jason Eisner
A great example of a well-executed “found footage” horror film is one that basically sky-rocketed the genre, The Blaire Witch Project, and there are simple reasons to this, one being that it feels like, well, an authentic found footage documentary. Surprisingly, this simple and key notion in the genre (I mean, it is the very NAME of the genre), is really misconstrued and very well completely missed in the more recent found footage style films of today. Movies like Paranormal Activity and its successors, Diary of the Dead, and even the great Cannibal Holocaust suffer from straying too far from the authentic feel of something that actually happened. Whether it is because of a case of the bad act-ies, or the fact that a character needs to explain why there are music cues in the edited found footage, the reason being that the character wants to scare its audience (yeah, that actually happened), these movies listed as well as many others tend to suck out the experience of the realism the film is supposed to impose on the viewer.
So with that being said, every movie in this genre is not exempt from the major flaw that must stay consistent for it to be considered found footage and not mock-documentary, or “mockumentary.” The flaw being, the characters all have to die in the movie for it to be found footage. The problem with this is, at least for me, is that we know, in some way, that these characters are going to all die by the end of the movie. This sucks out any and all suspense when we are just waiting for some spirit or demon or alien to come out and kill these guys, for the most part. The movie, instead of genuinely creepy, then becomes a fun, “Oooeee! Let me see these characters die by a cool looking monster,” popcorn movie, but overall a failure at hitting it’s supposed realism mark.
When a movie like V/H/S 2 comes along, it breaks all the clichés and conquers. Yes, the acting can be a little cheesy at times. Yes, this is a found footage film with some unbelieving paranormal elements to it, where everyone does die. And yes, it does not feel real or terrifyingly startling in anyway. Yet, this movie works. It surpasses its predecessor which was, for lack of a better word, painful. It is an all around fun experience to enjoy with the company of some good horror-loving friends and a big bowl of popcorn. And, it is meant to be that way.
The film is an anthology of found footage segments all tied together with the main plot of a couple of freelance investigators looking for a missing kid, which led them to a house with multiple TV’s in static, and VHS tapes laying around waiting to be watched; almost the same set-up as the first installment. Much akin to the great Tales of the Crypt with its string that holds the segments together being the Crypt Keeper, the static TV’s and tapes laying around a single chair has become a character in itself, the string that pulls the viewer into a curiosity. After we as an audience watch one of the videos along with the investigator character it cuts back into this room, acting almost as a home base to recuperate, and I feel almost eager to see what the next video will bring. It’s a staple I hope will hold if they continue to turn this into a series.
Since the film is an anthology piece, different people direct each segment, so each segment has a different style and focus to it, which keeps it fresh. There are four main segments, and then the central investigator plot that ties them all together. Without giving away too much, each segment has a different cliché villain/monster, along the lines of aliens, zombies, etcetera.
Now, the segments are mostly entertaining and fun to watch, like I said, and even though they are filmed mostly on go-pros and clearly-not tape cameras suitable for a VHS format (in this day and age), these minor inconsistencies among others are easy to look passed. And, I emphasize, this is due mostly to one segment, the one segment of the film that made it a stand out film in this genre. Without this segment, this movie would have been forgettable at best. Timo Tjahjanto’s and Gareth Huw Evans’ “Safe Haven” was the segment that made the movie for me. I simply cannot give anything important away that will ruin it, but I will say that the acting in the first half kept me interested and actually invested on a different level than the rest of the segments where the acting is not the focal point, and the second half just made me feel like I was in a survival horror game. Just, awesome, and bloody as hell. It was brilliant, and on its own without the backing of the other segments it would have still been brilliant just the same. If you are not a fan of the first V/H/S/ movie, with it’s very unlikable characters and overt cheesiness, watch this one just for this segment. Trust me. You will not regret it.
An honorable mention would the be segment prior to this one, called “A Ride in the Park,” by, oddly enough, The Blair Witch Project creators Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale. It does not compare to their magnum opus of found footage, but its simplicity is what makes it intriguing and fun to watch, even with an unneccesary dub-step music cue (Seriously, why would someone add music to found footage of people dying? That’s pretty messed up). And, yes this is kind of a spoiler to the segment but: a zombie with a go-pro attached to its head. You cannot beat that. Just, simply awesome.
This movie works even with all the cliché aspects that make other found footage movies not work. We know everyone is going to die at the end of every segment and in the main plot or else this wouldn’t be found footage (and I’m sorry if that seems like a spoiler but it truly shouldn’t seem that way). And yet, I didn’t really care about that aspect of it at all, and I kept watching. Why? Well, the focus of this movie was more on the stories, not the suspense and realism aspect. The creepy and often corny, bedtime or campfire stories that linger in the heads of active imaginations, or the rush one would get going into a haunted house setup during Halloween is the feeling I get when I watch this. As opposed to other movies where it seems a police force, the government, or MySpace community in the wake of a zombie apocalypse (seriously George A. Romero, why?) had found the footage and is showing to us, it feels like we had stumbled alone into an obscure house with a buzzing TV or into a seedy pawnshop and brought this tape home without anyone knowing. And instead of it being firmly grounded into a this-could-really-happen reality, our urban legends and fun Halloween midnight stories have come to fruition with this movie. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and fail; it stays in a creepy fun mood and brings us along with it.
Spencer Collins, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.