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V/H/S

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This article is about the horror film. For the analog video format, see VHS. For other uses, see VHS (disambiguation).
V/H/S
Stacks of black VHS tapes, some with white labels that come together to form a skull shape.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starringsee below
Cinematography
Edited by
  • David Bruckner
  • Glenn McQuaid
  • Ti West
  • Simon Barrett
  • Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
  • Tyler Gillett
Music byLucas Clyde
Production
companies
Distributed byMagnet Releasing
Release dates
  • January 22, 2012 (2012-01-22) (Sundance)
  • October 5, 2012 (2012-10-05) (United States)
Running time
116 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.9 million[2]

V/H/S is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the V/H/S franchise created by Brad Miska[3] and Bloody Disgusting, and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin.[4] It features a series of six found footage shorts written and directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and the filmmaking collective Radio Silence.[5]

The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in January 2012,[6] and was released on demand on August 31, 2012. It also made a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 5, 2012, and in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2013.

It spawned six sequels—V/H/S/2, V/H/S: Viral, V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/85 and V/H/S/Beyond—and two spin-offs individual films, Siren and Kids vs. Aliens, as well as a miniseries V/H/S: Video Horror Shorts on Snapchat's Snap Originals platform.[7]

Genesis

[edit]

In an interview with IndieWire,[3] producer Brad Miska revealed the process in which they developed V/H/S, which included a "trust-fall" style of filmmaking. All of the relationships came through the long history of Bloody Disgusting.

For "V/H/S", we went to people that I have a relationship with via Bloody Disgusting — a group of trusted filmmakers who we thought would want to take part in this. They pitched us their ideas, then came to us with treatments and scripts. It was like, "If you like this, go do your thing." In terms of the movie itself getting green lit — the storyline that runs through the whole movie was something that we had originally discussed. So we just went with the decided upon streamlined story and just let the filmmakers go do their thing. Which is kind of a reverse of how you're supposed to do a movie like this. You're supposed to do that last. It became a 'fill-in-the-hole' type project. What can we put here? What can we put there? You know, what would amp it up here? So it was a living project. A living film if you will.

Plot

[edit]

The film is presented as an anthology of five short horror films, built into a frame narrative which acts as its own sixth short horror film. Each short film is linked together with the concept of found footage as each segment is from VHS tapes.

"Tape 56" (frame narrative) — Prologue

[edit]

The frame narrative focuses on Brad, Rox, Zak, and Gary, a criminal gang who film their acts, which range from vandalism to sexually assaulting women. An anonymous source hires them to break into an abandoned house and steal a VHS videotape. The quartet accept, eager to expand their criminal enterprises.

In the house, they find an old man's corpse sitting in front of several televisions. While his friends roam the house, Brad stays with the corpse to watch a tape left in the VCR.

"Amateur Night"

[edit]
For the spin-off film, see Siren (2016 film).
  • Directed by David Bruckner
  • Written by David Bruckner and Nicholas Tecosky

Three friends—Shane, Patrick, and Clint—rent a motel room to bring women for sexual intercourse. Clint wears glasses that have been outfitted with a hidden camera and microphone to allow them to turn their planned encounter into an amateur porn video.

While they are bar-hopping, Clint meets Lily, a mysterious young woman who appears unusually shy and only says "I like you". In addition to Lily, the friends also convince another young woman, Lisa, to go to their room. Shane attempts to initiate sex with Lisa, but she passes out and Patrick discourages him. Lily awkwardly seduces Clint until Shane comes on to her instead.

Clint notices Lily's clawed and scaly feet as she undresses, but Shane and Patrick are oblivious. Lily pushes Shane onto his back and begins to undress Clint to initiate a threesome. Overwhelmed, Clint goes to the bathroom. Patrick attempts to take Clint's place, but Lily makes it clear that she dislikes him. Moments later, Patrick burst into the bathroom and claims that Lily bit him.

When Clint and Patrick approach, Lily suddenly sprouts fangs, then attacks and kills Shane. Clint hides in the bathroom while Patrick, armed with a shower curtain rod, returns to the bedroom. Clint tries to wake Lisa up while Patrick confronts Lily; she easily kills him and rips off his genitals. Clint runs out, but falls down a staircase and breaks his wrist. Lily, now with her face bearing a hideous split down its middle, catches up to Clint. She attempts to perform fellatio on an unresponsive Clint, but then starts to cry and growl angrily.

Clint flees to beg bystanders for help until he is suddenly lifted into the sky by Lily, who has transformed into a winged creature—revealed to be a succubus on the hunt for a mate. The glasses fall off Clint's face and hit the ground as the footage ends.

"Tape 56" — First interlude

[edit]

Back in the frame narrative, Rox discovers that Brad has disappeared. In the basement, Zak and Gary find hundreds of unmarked VHS tapes and collect them all to make sure they get the right one. As a glimpse of a strange figure wanders off, Rox puts another tape in the VCR and watches it.

"Second Honeymoon"

[edit]
  • Directed by Ti West
  • Written by Ti West

Married couple Sam and Stephanie travel through Route 66 for their honeymoon in Arizona, a trip documented by Stephanie. That night, they visit a Wild West-themed attraction where Stephanie receives a prediction from a mechanical fortune teller. It claims that she will be happily reunited with a loved one, and that she is very trusting and is easily taken advantage of.

A strange woman comes to their motel room and awkwardly tries to convince Sam to give her a ride the next day. In the middle of the night, while the couple are asleep, an intruder breaks into the room, turns on the camcorder, and films itself stroking Stephanie's buttocks with a switchblade. The intruder also steals money from Sam's wallet and dips his toothbrush in the toilet.

The next day, on their way to visit the Grand Canyon, Sam notices the missing money and accuses Stephanie of taking it despite her assures that she did not. That night, the intruder enters the room again and repeatedly stabs Sam in the neck with the switchblade, filming as he chokes to death. The camera then shows the intruder—the woman from earlier—wearing a porcelain mask. She is revealed to be Stephanie's lover; they drive away, with Stephanie asking if the recording was erased as the footage ends.

"Tape 56" — Second interlude

[edit]

Rox is confused by what he has witnessed and fails to notice that the corpse has also disappeared. Meanwhile, in the basement, Zak and Gary consider making copies of the required tape to get extra money.

"Tuesday the 17th"

[edit]

Childhood friends Joey, Spider, and Samantha accompany their new friend, Wendy, on her annual trip to a lake in a nearby forest. As Wendy leads the way, she mentions an "accident" that took her old friends' lives. Joey's digital camera pans certain empty areas and glitched images of mutilated bodies appear in the captured footage.

When they discover a mutilated pig, Wendy declares that everyone will die. The group smoke weed near the lake and Wendy explains that a murderer killed many people there, but the group laughs it off as a joke. Spider and Samantha leave for a break until the latter is suddenly killed when a knife is thrown at her face. Spider attempts to run, but is also stabbed to death. The culprit is revealed to be a glitched figure with its head obscured by tracking errors.

Wendy reveals to Joey that she is the only survivor after all her friends were killed at the lake. She reveals that she used the group to bait and kill the murderer. The Glitch then walks up behind Joey and slits his throat. Wendy lures the Glitch into a pit trap, then a bear trap, which briefly halts it. She films the Glitch up close, but it slashes her hand before Wendy flees and records a warning to stay away from the lake. Wendy finds a dying Joey and the Glitch confronts her before another booby trap impales it.

After Wendy gloats and walks away, she looks back and notices the Glitch is gone. It ambushes Wendy, beats her to death with the camera, and disembowels her. Wendy's corpse twitches and shudders violently; the camera glitches out as the footage ends.

"Tape 56" — Third interlude

[edit]

The corpse has returned to the room, but Rox has disappeared. Zak and Gary are confused as to where their friends have gone. Gary then tells Zak to look through the tapes, to which Zak complies.

"The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger"

[edit]

Aspiring doctor James is told by his girlfriend Emily through video chat about a strange bump on her arm and how it reminds her of an accident she had when she was younger. After Emily shows James her new apartment, she hears noises outside her door. A ghostly child-like entity rushes into her room and slams the door; it leads Emily to believe her apartment is haunted.

After another encounter with the entity, Emily questions her landlord. He claims no children have ever lived in the complex, nor have any people ever died there. During her next chat with James, Emily attempts to cut into her bump to find out what it is. James urges her to stop to avoid an infection and promises to check on it when he arrives in a week.

The next night, Emily carries her laptop to have James look out for the entity. Two more entities appear and knock her unconscious as James enters the apartment. The entities are actually aliens that watch as James surgically removes a fetus from Emily's torso; they have been using her as an incubator for half-alien, half-human hybrids. James asks the aliens how much longer they plan to use Emily and remarks she may not survive much more as she has noticed their tracking device in her arm. The aliens erase Emily's memory, while James breaks her bones to make it look like an accident.

In their next chat, a badly injured Emily believes that she sustained the injuries after wandering into traffic in a fugue state. She says the doctor James recommended has diagnosed her as schizoaffective and tearfully says that James deserves a better, more normal girlfriend. He assures Emily she is the only person he wants to be with as their call ends. James then begins a new call with a different woman, who also has a bump on her arm and believes he is her boyfriend, as the footage ends.

"Tape 56" — Epilogue

[edit]

When Gary returns, both Zak and the corpse have disappeared. Gary searches upstairs and finds the decapitated remains of his friends; he is suddenly attacked by the zombified corpse. Fleeing downstairs, Gary falls, twists his ankle, and the zombie kills him. In the room, the VCR starts the last tape by itself.

"10/31/98"

[edit]

On Halloween night, four friends—Tyler, Chad, Matt, and Paul— head out to a Halloween party, but go to a wrong address in an abandoned house. Believing they are the first to arrive, the quartet sneak inside and begin to experience paranormal phenomena, but they dismiss it as a haunted house attraction and have fun with it.

In the attic, the quartet find several men gathered around a woman suspended from the rafters, reenacting an exorcism. The quartet join the men's chanting, which alerts them to their presence. The men shout angrily before physically assaulting the woman until they are suddenly pulled into the darkness by an unseen force. As more violent paranormal phenomena manifest, the quartet initially flee but go back to the house to rescue the woman, whom they untie and lead to safety.

The entire house come to life with poltergeists and the quartet get into their car with the woman, driving away. The car abruptly stops and the woman disappears, reappearing in the street before them and walking amid flocks of birds. The quartet realize that the car has stopped on train tracks and that the woman they rescued is actually a witch. They try to get out as a train approaches, but are unable to start the engine or unlock the doors. The train smashes into the car, killing all inside as the footage ends.

Alternative joke ending

[edit]

A joke ending to "10/31/98" was shot in one take by Radio Silence, in which the doors are unlocked and the quartet get out just before the train smashes the car. The quartet walk away and talk about how much fun they had, and what a crazy night it was. Meanwhile, the train hits the car and it explodes behind them.[8]

Cast

[edit]

"Tape 56"

[edit]

"Amateur Night"

[edit]
  • Hannah Fierman as Lily
  • Mike Donlan as Shane
  • Joe Sykes as Patrick
  • Drew Sawyer as Clint
  • Jasper Lewis as Lisa

"Second Honeymoon"

[edit]

"Tuesday the 17th"

[edit]
  • Norma C. Quinones as Wendy
  • Drew Moerlein as Joey Brenner
  • Jeannine Yoder as Samantha
  • Jason Yachanin as Spider
  • Bryce Burke as The Glitch

"The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger"

[edit]
  • Helen Rogers as Emily
  • Daniel Kaufman as James
  • Liz Harvey as The New Girl
  • Corrie Fitzpatrick as Girl Alien
  • Isaiah Hillman as Boy Alien
  • Taliyah Hillman as Little Girl Alien

"10/31/98"

[edit]

Release

[edit]

Trevor Groth, a programmer of midnight movies at the Sundance Film Festival, said, "I give this all the credit in the world because conceptually it shouldn't have worked for me. Personally, I'm bored by found-footage horror films, which this is. And omnibus attempts rarely work. But this one does. It's terrifying, and very well executed."[5] Horror-Movies.ca reported that two people fainted during the premiere at Sundance.[9]

At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Magnolia Pictures purchased the North American rights to the film for slightly over $1 million.[10] The first theatrical release began in Russia on September 7, 2012.[11] Limited theatrical release began October 5, 2012, in the United States. The film was released onto DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download on December 4, 2012. It was released on the titular format of VHS on February 5, 2013.

Reception

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 108 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "An uneven collection of found-footage horror films, V/H/S has some inventive scares but its execution is hit-and-miss."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[13]

Most reviewers said that they felt the film was too long. Variety noted that "the segments vary in quality and the whole overstays its welcome at nearly two hours. Some trimming (perhaps relegating a weaker episode to a DVD extra) would increase theatrical chances."[14]

Empire gave the film four stars out of five, saying that "the biggest twist is its consistently high quality ... anything goes, and all of it works".[15] The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mildly positive review, stating "Refreshingly, V/H/S promises no more than it delivers, always a plus with genre fare."[10] Fangoria praised the film while remarking that "the mystery of why/how some of this stuff is even on VHS tapes to begin with" was a bit of a leap.[16]

Sean O'Connell of The Washington Post gave the film a scathing review, saying that although "on paper, it's a clever concept" and "probably sounded great in the pitch meeting", it "loses all luster through some shoddy execution". He went on to criticise the "unwatchable shaky-cam technique" and "rough and amateurish" acting, though he did identify Swanberg's segment as the best.[17] Likewise, Roger Ebert was among the critics who felt the film was overlong, giving the film one star out of four and saying that "None of the segments is particularly compelling. Strung together, it's way too much of a muchness."[18]

Sequels and spin-offs

[edit]
Main article: V/H/S (franchise)

A sequel, titled V/H/S/2, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in January 2013 and was released on demand on June 6, 2013. It also made a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 12, 2013.

A third installment in the series, titled V/H/S: Viral, was released on demand on October 23, 2014, and theatrically on November 21, 2014. A fourth installment, titled V/H/S/94, was released exclusively on Shudder on October 6, 2021.[19]

A fifth installment, V/H/S/99, debuted in the Midnight Madness stream at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival[20] and was released on Shudder October 20, 2022.[21] V/H/S/85, the sixth installment, was released on Shudder on October 6, 2023.[22] The seventh installment, V/H/S/Beyond, was released exclusively on Shudder on October 4, 2024.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "V/H/S (18)". British Board of Film Classification. November 6, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "V/H/S". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Nigel M. (January 22, 2012). "Bloody Disgusting Founder and 'V/H/S' Producer Brad Miska On Why the Found-Footage Movie Is Here To Stay". IndieWire. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  4. ^ Shawhan, Jason (April 19, 2012). "Former Nashvillian Roxanne Benjamin fast-forwards to terror with hot-ticket horror anthology V/H/S". Nashville Scene. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Breznican, Anthony (December 1, 2011). "Sundance 2012: Midnight Movies highlight the horrible and hilarious". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  6. ^ Schulz, Chris (August 3, 2012). "'Chilling' horror film comes with a warning". New Zealand Herald. NZME Publishing. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  7. ^ "V/H/S horror shorts return, this time on Snapchat | SYFY WIRE". November 30, 2018. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  8. ^ Radio Silence (April 2, 2012). ""10/31/98" (Alternate Ending)". Vimeo. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Rother, Simon (July 30, 2012). "V/H/S Movie Review". HorrorMovies.ca. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Lowe, Justin (January 27, 2012). "V/H/S: Sundance Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  11. ^ "V/H/S". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  12. ^ "V/H/S". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 5, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  13. ^ "V/H/S". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  14. ^ Harvey, Dennis (January 27, 2012). "V/H/S". Variety. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  15. ^ Williams, Owen (January 9, 2013). "V/H/S". Empire. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  16. ^ Pace, Dave (July 18, 2012). "LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH – "V/H/S" REVIEWED". Fangoria. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  17. ^ O'Connell, Sean (October 5, 2012). "V/H/S". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 3, 2012). "V/H/S". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  19. ^ "Shudder Presses Play On V/H/S/94 - Fangoria". June 16, 2021. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro, "Toronto Unveils Discovery & Wavelengths Sections; Midnight Madness Opening Includes Roku’s ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’". Deadline Hollywood, August 4, 2022.
  21. ^ "'V/H/S/99' – Shudder Presses Play on Fifth Entry in the Bloody Disgusting-Produced Anthology Franchise from Studio71!". July 28, 2022.
  22. ^ Squires, John (August 23, 2023). "V/H/S/85 Teaser Trailer-Rewind Back to the 1980s on Shudder This October". Bloddy Disgusting. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  23. ^ Harvey, Dennis (October 4, 2024). "'V/H/S/Beyond' Review: Found-Footage Franchise Takes a Tentative Step Toward Sci-Fi". Variety. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
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