V/H/S 1 and 2

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Harry Sunderland
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V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by Harry Sunderland »

Hello guys,

We're approaching the season when all the new horror movies start coming out. I was curious as to if anyone here has watched either V/H/S or V/H/S 2? I recently watched the second one, and while I thought it definitely faltered at a few moments, overall I was very satisfied with how terrifying it was. I also enjoyed the original one as well.

While I find the "found footage" genre to be a bit over-done lately, I like that V/H/S takes the approach of just slamming you with some totally "WTF" vignettes, and ends them without giving you any kind of closure. As far as the "found footage" sub-genre goes, these films, along with the Spanish film "Atrocious" are my favorites.

Any of you guys have any thoughts on V/H/S 1 or 2? Love it? Hate it? Share your thoughts!
loudERIC
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by loudERIC »

I loved V/H/S 1. Haven't seen 2 yet. 'Tis the season, though. Right?? :P

If you enjoyed V/H/S then you Gotta find yourself a way to watch the Poughkeepsie Tapes if you liked VHS. That movie isn't on DVD and didn't do well in theaters at all but I think it might be one of my favorite horror movies because of how messed up and original the twists and turns in it are. The things the characters of that story go through... ugh... *gag* so messed up and creepy.

The thing that ties these films together is simply the presentation. Where V/H/S has all sorts of nutso short stories, Poughkeepsie tapes are documentary style interviews cut together with footage the psychopath who left all these tapes for the detectives to find of varying quality and general weirdness.
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
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JPrice
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by JPrice »

Hey I've seen both of them recently actually! I'll post my full thoughts on them when I get in from Uni as I'm not typing it all on my phone here hahaha
"Always look on the bright side of life"
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matt
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by matt »

I saw V/H/S 1, and it was interesting. It was kind of hit and miss for me, but I'm glad I watched it. I'll have to check out V/H/S 2. :-D
-Matt Gilgenbach
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JPrice
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by JPrice »

Right I'm back in now so lets see...

Well the original V/H/S I thought was a pretty decent movie, had some problems but still was pretty good. Suppose I should look at each segment individually and talk about 'em.

Main wrap around segment - Thought it was pretty ehhh really. The characters themselves should have been more fleshed out as I didn't really care that they were all dying one at a time.
Amateur Night - Pretty good first tape to start off with. Aside from the characters being douchebags I thought everything else was handled well, liked the build up towards the eventual climax which had some good effects and such. Overall good stuff!
Second Honeymoon - Rather meh overall is the best way to describe this one. The problem with this one I feel is that it's all build up without a decent payoff. Once the ending finally occurs I was just left wondering why they didn't just do it sooner, given that the killer had the perfect opportune moment to earlier in the segment.
Tuesday the 17th - Probably the worst one on here. It's basically just a bland slasher premise that's been done to death with the only interesting thing being that the killer is only visible with the aid of tracking errors on a camcorder.
The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger - Actually had a decent setup to it, with everything being presented in nothing but Skype calls. Managed to set a pretty creepy tone that seemed to be reminiscent of Paranormal Activity. However the ending just seems to undo the seriousness that was previously established and it ended up being kinda silly. Still the prior scenes are pretty effective at being creepy and what not.
10/31/98 - Probably the best one on here. Had a great build up that was effectively creepy and then when shit hit the fan the fear remained throughout. This was in thanks to some pretty good looking effects and subtle movements that hinted towards danger (I.e a chair that moved from one end of the room to the other). The only downside to this one is that there weren't really any huge surprises to the story and it seemed to follow the standard haunted house formula.

There was one other qualm I had with the movie as a whole in that some of these segments being legitimately found on a VHS seems kind of silly. Like with "Amateur Night", it's shown that he has some high-tech glasses that can record all the footage that we're seeing. So of all the things to put it on (Computer, DVD, CD etc) why pick a VHS tape? Same with the "The Sick Thing..." story, why would someone put a desktop recording of a persons Skype calls onto a VHS tape? The overall setup just seems kinda paper thin when you think about it (With the only segment using the VHS angle well being "10/31/98" as it actually looks like an old VHS recording) and just seems to be an excuse to showcase the segments all together.

V/H/S 2 I thought was actually worse than the first with the number of good segments being reduced to 1 down from the 2 that were in the previous and there's a lot more average - bad segments.

Main wrap around segment - Slightly better than the first in that the characters were more likeable but it basically follows a similar structure. Although the ending seems to be better at least.
Phase I Clinical Trials - The pacing on this seemed to be way too fast for what it was trying to tell. As basically he gets his eye, sees things, woman comes over and has sex with him in like 5-10 minutes of meeting him, woman dies not long after, then more stuff and then it just ends. I feel like this would have benefited from a much slower pace and more time as some of the ideas and images here are pretty decently creepy. Shame really.
A Ride in The Park - The worst on here. Basically just take an standard zombie movie and this is pretty much what you get. The only gimmick is that it's filmed using a head-mounted GoPro camera that makes it a first person zombie movie really. Just bland overall.
Safe Haven - Easily the best segment on here. Has a great build up that effectively sets a creepy atmosphere within the cults place of worship, there's also some great imagery that makes the place unnerving once the true intentions of the cultists is revealed (My particular favourite being the eerie mass suicide within the hall). You really have to see this one for yourself to appreciate it, the only downside is that near the end it can get quite silly and the monster design is kinda goofy up close but you only see it for about a few seconds at the end so it's not so bad.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction - Pretty mixed bag really. Idea is solid and some of the effects are actually pretty well done. But the camera work on the last 5 minutes is migraine inducing even with a film like this and none of the characters are all that interesting, just your archetypal young boy, friends and big sister dynamic. (Also the ending with the doggy made me sad :c). Rather average all in all.

Phew! So yeah that about sums up what I thought about each film pretty well hahaha :D
"Always look on the bright side of life"
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Harry Sunderland
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by Harry Sunderland »

I found the poughkeepsie tapes on youtube. Score. I'll check it out this weekend.

Edit: Wow, I ended up watching it tonight...and I sure hope I can get to sleep after that. TRULY disturbing film...jeeze. It makes V/H/S/ seem like Benji. :D
loudERIC
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by loudERIC »

Harry Sunderland wrote:I found the poughkeepsie tapes on youtube. Score. I'll check it out this weekend.

Edit: Wow, I ended up watching it tonight...and I sure hope I can get to sleep after that. TRULY disturbing film...jeeze. It makes V/H/S/ seem like Benji. :D
That ending, right? Glad you enjoyed it. :)
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill.
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Raziel_cz
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by Raziel_cz »

I saw both "V/H/S" and "V/H/S 2" and while I was quite satisfied with the first movie (it's simply "from fans, for fans" kind of film), I found the second one, despite the general opinion, not so good as a whole. On the other hand, the "Safe Heaven" episode is simply the best sequence this serie has to offer.
Last edited by Raziel_cz on Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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matt
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Re: V/H/S 1 and 2

Post by matt »

I'm loving the movie suggestions. Thanks for sharing!
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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