V/H/S

by Jofrin Pezzati

 
Camcorder POV style horror films like Blair Witch Craft and Paranormal Activity seem to be quickly growing into their own subgenre of horror. While I love the horror movie genre, I find it to be filled primarily with large amounts of steaming manure. My feelings about camcorder-horror generally do not differ much.

When I was a child I use to have nightmares of a screaming woman behind a red lit window and a chainsaw yielding madman. Fast forward to the Yab Yummer of today and he remains a strange man with a penchant for women screaming and chainsaw yielding madmen.

My desensitized sensibilities find a person’s fear of red curtains and floating sheets quite laughable. Fake blood is fake blood to me. I get the willies much more so from random people with bad teeth at the bus stop than movies meant to terrify an audience. Until now.

Before I move forward I must explain that in order to preserve the sanctity of creepy fear this film causes me there is quite a bit that inherently must be left out. In other words, there will be no spoilers in this review, and there is nothing I can say here to capture the jaw dropping and wide eyed moments of “What the hell?!?!” found within the chapters of V/H/S.

V/H/S strings together several short sequences of terror via VHS tapes that were shot camcorder POV cinematography. At first, V/H/S feels like any other camcorder-horror movie out there, but all of that quickly changes. The directorial team “Radio Silence” has finally utilized the camcorder style medium in the manner it should be, for realism. Each sequence of V/H/S screams, “Kiss my ass Blair Witch.”

In less than two hours, V/H/S contains anything a fan of horror could possibly desire. Excessive and brutal gore in some moments, and cut away macabre that only the grotesque imagination of the viewer can fill in others. Maddening betrayal, sickening perversion, supernatural disgust, and shocking cinematic twists of dread are merely a few of the ingredients of V/H/S.

Warning! YabYum does not recommend this film to persons with the following conditions: those prone to seizures, migraines, heart conditions or abnormal blood pressure, IBS, bed wetting, schizophrenic episodes, general sissyness, under the influence of psychedelics, expectant mothers, or any other conditions that may be irritated by a truly terrifying cinematic experience.

That said, just toughen up. I challenge anyone to watch this film without wetting their pants. Those that do are stronger than I. V/H/S has found itself at the top of my list of horror movie recommendations. V/H/S can be found now On Demand and in theaters October 5th.