MovieChat Forums > V/H/S (2012) Discussion > Am I the only one who thinks this is ter...

Am I the only one who thinks this is terrible?

posted 12 years ago by dragoncaine
131 replies | jump to latest

Please no hate here, I just want to voice my opinion. Anyway, I think this is one of the worst horror films I've ever seen, especially considering the "buzz" around it. None of this film, in my opinion, was even remotely scary, just the occasional "Thrill". Here's the layout for me:

Amateur Night - I liked the build up, but the drunkenness was incredibly annoying. It also felt too much like "been there, done that" and was just a simple creature feature. Sadly, this is one of the better ones.

2nd Honeymoon - Somewhat tense with the masked assailant, but absolutely terrible in regards to the ending, and so much filler. This entire clip could've been less than 5 minutes, and the impact would not have been any different.

Glitchman - Abysmal. The story was terrible, completely contrived, the effects were awful, the acting was a joke, and the entire creature or strange entity made no sense whatsoever. Overall, the worst in a horrendous line-up of found footage.

Strange Thing That Happened To Emily - This one could have actually been great, and it almost was. The tension kept mounting up pretty successfully, yet once again, the film took no interest in explaining or further investigating the happenings of the "aliens". Overall, the best one out of the anthology, but still disappointing.

Tape 56 - Sloppily done, with a completely predictable ending that was just dumb.

Haunted House - Again, could've been pretty good, but the potential was squandered with run-of-the-mill material, YET AGAIN no sufficient explanation, and one of the worst endings in the whole bunch.

Overall, I found this movie to be atrocious. Believe me, I do not go into this expecting the Academy Award for best original screenplay, but Jesus this was poorly executed. No connections were made between the tapes, the stories were overall just flat out bad, and the resolutions to each tape were horrible. No definitive conclusion or insight into what exactly is going on. I don't want my horror films to be spoonfed to me, but I also don't want everything to be left in complete ambiguity. 4/10, and that's being generous.

[–] anotherone-3 12 years ago

man, i think that was a goood movie, just my opinion

[–] iPaul-El 12 years ago

I actually enjoyed the movie,it wasn't a masterpiece but it was enjoyable .

[–] ManusHalligan 12 years ago

Just finished watching this. Dear God, the directors had no idea what they were at. The VHS quality should help the scary moments jump out at you but instead just make the film really unclear. The concept was good to begin with but then went absolutely nowhere.
This will go down as a film with mass potential, poorly executed. 3/10

[–] HeyFoxymophandlemama 12 years ago

No, I thought is was horrible too. It was a crappy, give you a headache with it's *beep* cameras, low budget, unoriginal turd. I never heard of it and still thought it sucked and was very surprised when I read the praise for it afterwards. Well not that surprised, taste seems to being going out the window today. Movie, music pretty much everything seems to cater to the big and dumb crowd.

"Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!"

[–] orchidclub 12 years ago

I also thought this was an awful film; one of the worst I've seen. Here's my review: http://thrill-me.blogspot.com/2012/10/movie-review-vhs-2012.html

[–] Lord_Gyaldhart 12 years ago

Actually the only segment I really liked was the one with the succubus, at first you are right, the drunken dudes were annoying as hell, but then it took a creepy twist that was entertaining at least.

The other segments are all terrible and painful to watch, the last one with the Halloween night and the haunted house had potential and had good scenes, but at the end it didn't deliver.

In general the movie was crap, and the only segment I would watch again is the first one.

I gave the movie a 4/10.

Christianity's GREATEST ally and BEST friend throughout history is Satan

[–] Injectionlethal 12 years ago

I agree with the entirety of your post. I saw the film at Spooky Empire Weekend in Orlando today. I broke away from my party (they wanted to see other stuff) to view this film, and I ended up extremely let down, and I missed out on some great stuff. I wanted to love this film, but rather I hated it. 4/5th of it was just god awful, and the lat 1/5th was passable at best. This film suffers from a common disorder within cinema, and that is good ideas with horroble exicution. I liked the succubi/vampire creature, the apartment creeper, the glitchman, the idea behind Emily's section, and I honestly thought the house was a great, short horror film on its own. But, nothing holds them afloat. They are utterly pointless. I don't need catharsis to enjoy a film, but I would at least like to know the filmmakers respected me enough as a viewer to at least have a point behind them, or something that ties them together aside from weak bookends. I was highly let down by this film.

I just realized Shaft Juice sounds like semen.

[–] Aleonardis 12 years ago

It seems like nobody on this thread realized that the film and it's parts were a commentary on the horror genre. Every single segment have the one cliche that sticks to each different sub-genre in horror. Like in the glitchman one. In slasher movies, the villain is always endearing and the character survives through the films negatives. Like in Friday the 13th and Halloween. The acting in those movies are subpar at best but the villain doesn't feel the scrutiny of the audience. In the end, this villain is what makes the movie. Those four actors in that segment are great. It's hard to act like your acting bad. Plus all the nods to other horror movies, like the hands out the walls from Repulsion. Theres a lot of passion here and I don't think anybody is really looking at why the choices were made by the directors. Theres meaning in everything if you are willing to look. If you can't get over certain things then so be it. It's taste. But to call yourself a horror fan and not recognize the degree of expertise these directors put forth at disassembling the horror genre is a travesty. This is like Cabin in the Woods all over again.

[–] Injectionlethal 12 years ago

You make a great point regarding the underline aspects incorporated by filmmakers. BUT, as a long time film enthusiast and academic, i can tell you that filmmakers having a purpose presented within their films does not make a film as intelligent or as sophisticated as they would hope. There are plenty of passion projects that fail miserably.Part of film 101 is the idea that a good filmmaker is capable of presenting these aspects in a way that the audience can appreciate. They can incorporate great nods to prior films ( great catch on Repulsion by the way), or other bits for the viewers on many different levels, but if it's not successful it Loses it's value. It's as simple as that. It's how things are executed that matters. I felt the film lost a lot of points in the execution stages. I loved Cabin in the Woods because it was a deconstruction of horror supported by an interesting story, memorable moments, and made it's purpose clear long before the "directors" final monologue. It succeeded in it's goal, and the point of the filmmakers is clear to those with a more focused understanding of the genre, or of film in general. This film did not have that. It may be the most deconstructive, intellectual horror film in ages, but it didn't do anything for me and nor did it make it's purpose clear. It was a bad film with good intentions to sum it up. It's the equivalent of Batman an Robin. Schumacher didn't want to make pure crap, he wanted a self aware, fun film the combined the camp of the 60s with this established universe. But, the execution was so silly and ridiculous that people became baffled by it, and all those good intentions were for not. It's a terrible film regardless of the purpose behind it.

Fellini, Kubrick, and Bergman were masters because they meshed their purpose with visually, and thematically strong stories. They didn't write something great and simply rely on that for validation. Their visions were tied together by a great understanding of the medium. They got their point across, they payed tribute to their inspirations, and they tied it all together with an equally strong story.

In short, I love horror, and I am not blind in terms of seeing theses deeper meaning, or recognizing the amount of work the filmmakers have incorporated, but none of that excuses a weak film. I'm glad you like this film, but I honestly do not think those aspects make up for all the negative aspects of the film. Not by a long shot.

By the way, the term taste is usually used to express the ability to appreciate certain aspects. That is just a side note.

I just realized Shaft Juice sounds like semen.

[–] Aleonardis 12 years ago

I understand completely. For me, it worked very well. Maybe I wasn't expecting something as reverential as this maybe and it was easier for me overlook some of the flaws I saw. I honestly think though that complaining about the writing and acting in the glitchman segment is null and void. There's bad acting and then there's acting like you're acting bad. The segment relishes those aspects and it's what makes that segment stronger. Plus the movie actually scared me. Albeit only twice but for a movie to scare me it's a huge deal :)

I just didn't see the boatload of flaws everyone else is seeing and I honestly think this one is more about taste because the movie is very competently directed. The use of the special effects in the halloween segment was astounding to me and it looked seamless for such a low budget film. Also, I found that the found footage technique was implemented to the advantages of each segment when usually it's the opposite and the found footage seems like it was tacked on for the novelty. Some segments are better than others. I will admit that. The "emily" one is a little too abrupt and kind of disappointing but that also scared me pretty good. The digital/VHS argument that people are coming up with I think is a little ridiculous but I understand why people would have that issue. It didn't bother me and I hadn't even noticed it until I came to these boards. I think it adds to the idea of the ridiculousness of the found-footage genre. "Why is this tape even around" is an ever present theme that goes unexplained in nearly every film of it ilk. My answer to that question is simply to entertain.

Also, I feel, if I was able to find these themes throughout then doesn't that mean that it is visually and thematically strong? Cameras bring a voyeuristic sense to the whole production and a lot of it is centered on the women. Then tables are turned in the Last Honeymoon segment and we get the woman encroaching on the mans sensibilities and privacy. I found the gender politics was woven into the filmmaking seamlessly.

Look, It's no Cabin in the Woods but honestly there isn't anything as great as Cabin anyway. Cabin is a masterpiece of satire. VHS feels more like a respectful ode to a genre. I responded to it.

[–] Injectionlethal 12 years ago

Yeah, that is a great point regarding the talent of the film. I also get what you mean about it scaring you. It is pretty difficult to find a recent film that really affects the avid horror geeks like us.

I know where you are coming from, my friend. Even as a film academic, I do find it insufferable when people nit pick. I look at the broader picture, come to a conclusion, and I build a case (my prior post is an example of this). But, I never resort to simply picking out minute details to validate my disliking for something. It's just a flimsy argument. I respect people, even the ones I disagree with, if they put forth the effort to express their opinion in an adult manor. Hence my response to your well conceived post. "The movie looks too clean" or something is just a silly statement that I can't take seriously. No film is perfect, and sometimes it is more enjoyable to go with the craziness and suspend one's disbelief. Even the greats made it clear that film requires a level of fantasy.

I found it far from seamless, and in my mind it only furthers the previous statements I made regarding great ideas, but terrible execution. But, beside that, there is a silver lining I'm sure you agree with and that being the fact that the genre is much more adult than people give it credit. I caught on the gender politics during my viewing, and even though I have my reservations it does lend credence to the fact this genre is much more capable than gore and breasts.

I'm not a fan of this film, but if it played well for you, and others, for the reasons you described, then I'll tip my hat to Mr. West and company. If the gender politics and so forth resonated with you, then I'll gladly step aside because it does show this film has something to it. I didn't feel it had anything to offer, but obviously this is all opinion based. Good eye.

Very true, Cabin is one in a million. I'm pretty broke at the moment, so I can't afford to feed my movie habit, but I did purchase Cabin in the Woods the day it came out. It just deserved a space in my collection.

I just realized Shaft Juice sounds like semen.

[–] Aleonardis 12 years ago

I definitely agree with your point that horror movies are more adult. In my opinion, I think they can do what other genres can't. Cause physical reaction as well as mental reaction. I think that's a really intriguing idea. Yes a drama can make you cry but a horror movie can do that, make you jump, and even paralyze you with fear. That's why The Thing, The Exorcist, Alien, The Shining, The Innocents, The Evil Dead, Eyes Without a Face, Hour of the Wolf, and 28 Days Later are probably all in my all time favorite films list.

If you go out to the movies then you must see Looper, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Master, Silver Linings Playbook, and Holy Motors. The five of them are my favorites of the year so far. Also, Sinister is actually a pretty effective and classy horror movie as well.

[–] learntoreadbitch 12 years ago

It's always hilarious what people will come up with to try to justify their love of a crap movie.

[–] mgormley77 12 years ago

Because people have different opinions than you?

[–] cwoolfork 12 years ago

Well, I liked it and I hope they make a sequel! But I hope they use a stedicam this time 'round! LOL! Just sayin...

[–] itsalltears 12 years ago

totally agree with the OP. what i thought while watching:

amateur night - we get it. the glasses have a camera in them. no need to explain it to us 50 times. the guys are annoying and i don't care about them. if you want to make a porn why not just wear the glasses yourself? what are the odds that you'll even find a girl who will bang you with your meek friend in the room? why run to the bathroom instead of just leaving? why wait around FOREVER instead of just leaving? why would this clearly digital footage from a tiny hidden camera be on a VHS tape?

2nd honeymoon - decent acting and i thought provided a real creepy moment when the camera pans from one bed to the other and we see that who we thought was filming is actually asleep. sure, it's been done before in "lost highway" but i'll pretend ti west has never seen that. best moment in the whole movie but that quickly goes downhill. this creeper then steals 100 dollars from his wallet a la "planes trains and automobiles" (not very scary) and then plays a prank by dunking a toothbrush in the toilet. (not scary at all) and we're back on the road until the next night when instead of the creepiness amping up the husband is killed immediately and we see the wife was in on it. unexpected twist, sure, but shouldn't the twist make sense? why would the creeper (the wife's accomplice) film them sleeping and herself toying with a switchblade and stealing from them? if the plan was to murder the husband, why not do it then? why is this planned murder scenario even taking place on the road? was she following them? was she the creepy woman who had asked for a ride and if so, why? shouldn't a twist ending answer questions instead of just raising them?

glitchman - this is the one that should have been titled "amateur night." it didn't seem like it could possibly have been made by professionals. were they just making it up as they went along? terrible in every way. kids in the woods with a camera and a few added effects could have come up with this in an afternoon and apparently did.

strange thing that happened - starts off decent. like most of these, ruined by the ending. also, did these filmmakers know that this was going to be called V/H/S and that these were supposed to be on found tapes? these skype chats clearly don't fit with that and as with most other aspects of this movie the filmmakers clearly don't care.

tape 56 - did anyone at any point care about these guys or anything that happened to them? what an awful, thin premise. also, i dunno what the odds are of a horror fan watching v/h/s and not have already watched "saw" at some point. so we knew where the seemingly dead guy thing was going. so that wasn't cool or interesting either.

haunted house - not completely awful but as the OP said lacked a sufficient explanation. the acting and effects weren't bad and it was a decent idea but i was still dissatisfied with the final product.

i watched each of these with an open mind WANTING to like it and not nitpick, but as each ended i was struck again with the feeling of "that was it?!" nothing was satisfying or creative. it seemed like none of the filmmakers put much thought or effort into their part and assumed the others would carry the movie. would any of them have been proud to release their part on its own? did they even know what the other parts were going to be or what the story tying them all together was?
i really felt ripped off by this movie and i didn't even pay anything to see it. it was a complete waste of my time. it was so bad that i'm actually annoyed that the filmmakers had the audacity to think that this was even worth watching let alone PAYING to see. terrible. the fact that they put such little effort into this tells me that they really don't have much respect for the genre or their audience.

[–] 12 years ago

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