Be kind....rewind.
Remember the days when we used to stuff a shoe box sized piece of hard plastic into a PC sized machine and watched movies with no options to jump to different scenes or see special features?
Children, those things were called VHS tapes.
This series is comprised of two anthologies so far (I believe there is a third installment on the way in the foreseeable future) that revolve around a bank of televisions and a pile of videotapes that have some of the oddest and most disturbing found footage around.
The first installment finds a group of teenagers who record their exploits that include harassing women and other criminal activity. They look to move up in the criminal world by accepting an anonymous job to steal a single VHS tape from a home. Upon entering the home, they find a dead man sitting in front of a bank of television sets and a pile of VHS tapes. In order to ensure they get the right one, they split up to search the house and take all the VHS tapes in it. As they leave, each member of the group eventually ends up in the television room to watch a video and subsequently end up disappearing for strange reasons.
The content of the VHS tapes are what make up the majority of the movie. The short films seen here include: a group of guys that meet a woman who isn't what she seems to be; a honeymoon gone wrong; a camping trip from hell; a girl who encounters strange things while Skyping her boyfriend; and a Halloween party that becomes too real for comfort.
Creepy Factor:
4.5827100 out of 5 pumpkins
I was pleasantly surprised by this flick as many people were dead set against it because of the fact that it's a found footage film. However, I think this format works out extremely well for this type of film. It gives it a sense of realism despite the unrealistic stories. The special effects are also top notch.
The overall arc of this film revolves around a pair of investigators who are tasked with finding a boy who disappeared (one of the teens from the first film perhaps?). They follow a lead to a home where a bank of television sets and a pile of VHS tapes are sitting in the living room just waiting to be watched. A laptop is also waiting with a video of the missing boy talking about some mysterious VHS tapes that cause supernatural events to occur.
The second installment of this series of anthologies features short films that include: a man with a new eye that causes him to see horrific things; a bike ride that goes from fun to RUN; an investigation into a cult turning into an unbelievable event; a group of children meeting some very unwelcome visitors.
Creepy Factor:
3.70018349 out of 5 stars
In my humble opinion, this film was not as good as the first. I still enjoyed it though as it turned up the blood. It has a touch of humor in one short film that seemed out of place to me, and another short started off EXTREMELY promising but the last minute of it ruined it for me. The good thing is that the final short film really finished them all off strong.
If you look closely, you'll see some familiar symbols from another famous found footage movie. This is because the director of that movie directed this particular short. I'll let you see for yourself.
Overall, it's definitely worth a watch for a nice fright. These movies make the found footage genre cool again!
Jay
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