The style of “found footage” has been around for decades, but was made most popular by the cult hit The Blair Witch Project. This soon led to the Paranormal Activity series, Cloverfield, Apollo 18, The Last Exorcism, Chronicle, and many others, including the two V/H/S movies. If you notice, though, a majority of films in this genre are horror. The reason is this: movies are scarier if the world within it appears to be the same as our own, as if someone was just shooting a home video, and ended up catching something unexpected on tape. It is something we are always afraid of, while at the same time secretly hoping to experience. Of course, we still know that we are watching a movie, but the found footage element adds a layer of realism, allowing us to more easily close off our disbelief, and absorbing us even more deeply into the narrative. V/H/S, and the sequel V/H/S/2, both of which I managed to see back-to-back, take this idea even a step farther. Each film is an anthology, and has several distinct vignettes, all of which are spliced together through a somewhat loosely related back-story. So, let’s start from the beginning. 

V/H/S

In the first  V/H/S, our backstory consists of the following: a group of criminals regularly roam the streets, harassing girls and videotaping them, with the hopes of later displaying the videos online for a profit. In order to make more money, they are told by a customer to break into a house; in order to collect a specific VHS tape. But, upon arriving, they find hundreds of tapes strewn across the seemingly abandoned house. And so, they must take turns watching each of them in order to see which is the one they are looking for. Also, there is a dead guy sitting in a chair behind them while they are watching these tapes. Scared yet?

And so proceeds what we really came here to see: the vignettes, each of which begin as the characters from our main story insert a fresh tape into the VCR. The stories begin in perfectly ordinary situations, but then, as expected, things start to go horribly wrong. In one, a group of 20-somethings go out to a bar, and bring back girls to their hotel room, where we soon find out that one of them may not be what she seems. In another, a couple sets out on a honeymoon, only to have encounters with a mysterious stranger. In the third, a group of teenagers set out to go camping near a lake (was this the same lake where those bad things happened to those people one time?!). In the next, a girl starts to experience strange hauntings in her new apartment, and confides in her boyfriend on Skype for help. In the last story, a group of kids set out to go to a Halloween party (but wait, where is everybody?)  These may be stories that we have seen before, but each of them has their own unique style and flavor, perhaps because they are all shot by a different director. And they are also completely unrelated from one another; taking place in different places, at different times, and with different characters. So, even if you don’t like the story currently being shown, just wait a little while, and another will soon follow.

Without going too overboard with gore, special effects, or even story; V/H/S manages to scare the audience by recognizing one undeniable fact: we fear that which is most familiar to us. Do we really know or trust those neighbors down the street? Can we completely confide in those that are supposed to be closest to us? Can people ever be more than just familiar strangers? V/H/S toys with these ideas; each story presenting them with terrifying and brutal results. And if you’re anything like me, you may be slightly jumpy afterwards. Tip: Do not walk by yourself afterwards to your car, especially in the dark!

And now on to the sequel.

V/H/S/2

V/S/S/2 has a brand new backstory, with 4 new vignettes. The story is the following:  Two investigators are looking into the disappearance of a college student. Upon examining his home, they discover a stack of VHS tapes, as well as a webcam recording of the student on his laptop, during which he discusses the tapes themselves. So, in order to possibly gain some clues into the disappearance, they decide to watch some of them. And, as in the first one, some creepiness is sure to follow.

Although we may not really care about the backstory in this one, or, for that matter, in the last one either, the 4 vignettes more than make up for it. In the first, a man has a camera inserted into his now-useless eye, which he lost in a recent car accident; but then, for some reason he starts to see and experience things that aren’t there. In the second, a man goes off for a bike-ride through some back country roads, but then encounters a woman screaming for his help. In the third, a crew of reporters investigate a cult in Indonesia, only to (unfortunately) discover the truth of what is really happening. And, finally, some kids are having a sleepover at their lake house, (but oh no what is that creepy luminescent light reflecting across the lake, with that noise that sounds distinctly like the ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind?!)

What distinguishes V/H/S/2 from the original is not only the level of gore, which is here heightened greatly, but also the themes of the stories themselves. Here, our fears are distinguished not by what is familiar, but by what is unfamiliar. The fears are more archetypal, coming in the forms of various mythological creatures. In no specific order, we experience: ghosts, aliens, zombies, and demons. It is also clear that the budget here was greater than the first film, and the directors use this to their distinct advantage. Depending on how you look at it, this could be a good or a bad thing. Since the first V/H/S had less production behind it, the filmmakers rely more on our imagination, forcing us to picture and be afraid of what may be out there, even if we don’t always see it. But if you prefer more of a gore, shock-driven experience, the sequel is the one for you.

It’s hard to say what film overall was more entertaining. The fact remains that each vignette is really a movie all on its own, having been written separately and each with its own set of directors and actors. So, there were some from the first V/H/S that I liked, and some from the second. Really, though, this is all in good fun. Try not to scrutinize or take the movies too seriously. Sit back, shut off the lights, snuggle in close to a girlfriend or boyfriend, or just a pet if neither are around; and enjoy.