How entertaining? ★★★★☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆ 25 August 2013
This article is a review of V/H/S/2. |
“That’s why I wanted to find you, warn you,” Clarissa (Hannah Hughes)
Horror anthology V/H/S was far more successful than its rival THE ABCS OF DEATH thanks to having greater time to flesh out the dread. The former now has a sequel. The segments rely on the same flimsy but efficient idea of burglars coming across a stash of video cassettes in a creepy house. ‘Tape 49’ has a private investigator and his partner searching for a missing college student. Breaking into his home, there’s the odd chilling moment in between each segment.
Horror anthology V/H/S was far more successful than its rival THE ABCS OF DEATH thanks to having greater time to flesh out the dread. The former now has a sequel. The segments rely on the same flimsy but efficient idea of burglars coming across a stash of video cassettes in a creepy house. ‘Tape 49’ has a private investigator and his partner searching for a missing college student. Breaking into his home, there’s the odd chilling moment in between each segment.
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Phase 1 Clinical Trials
Director Adam Wingard (YOU’RE NEXT) goes from establishing the structure in V/H/S, to arguably delivering the most frightening of the batch. In a technological leap à la Bertrand Travernier’s DEATH WATCH, a camera is inserted into a man’s eye (hence the director playing the lead, Herman), where it provides him with both sight and a feedback to the corporate purveyors. Back at home Herman begins to see ghosts thanks to the gadget. And the filmmakers ratchet up the tension. A young woman, Clarissa, who he briefly met at the hospital, turns up and explains how she suffers a similar ability. Throwing in a gratuitous sex scene before the mayhem unfolds, Wingard confidently displays his horror chops.
A Ride in the Park
The co-director and a producer on THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT re-team for a fun zombiefest, which starts out like a national tourist advert – you know the ones: The helmet mounted camera on a mountain biker pelting through a picturesque forest. Mike (Jay Saunders) has gone for a morning ride and encounters the infected. At first it’s a ho-hum being chased undead flick, then he gets bitten, and it becomes a different beast. We get the zombie perspective. Forget WARM BODIES, this is far more educational on the human-eating hordes.
Safe Haven
This is the one I was waiting for. From the director of one of the most exciting action films of the last two decades, THE RAID. Time is taken for the set-up. A man is being interviewed with an obvious camera and a secret recording device. Most of ‘Safe Haven’ is not in English. The version I saw had no subtitles, so I gave up trying to understand the purpose of what looks to be a student film crew. They enter a building of the uncanny. All hell breaks loose. In a funny and insane way. Gareth Evans’ verve after THE RAID and MERANTAU remain undiminished.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction
The parents are away. The kids of the household invite their friends over. A mixture of ages. They reside by a lake. The protagonists are not particularly likeable, but when the hostile aliens arrive in numbers one is still rooting for the humans. Not very well made unfortunately – shaking the camera a lot coupled with strobing lights and murky cinematography don’t make for a hugely satisfying experience. Ambitious though.
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