JoBlo

Bourne101 · #1 08-31-2012, 11:38 PM

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, Joe Swanberg, Chad Villella, Ti West, Adam Wingard

Written by Simon Barrett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, Nicholas Tecosky, Chad Villella, Ti West

Genre: Horror

Plot Outline: When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

Starring: Too many people to list.

Rated R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, pervasive language and some drug use

Runtime: 116 minutes

About half way through this, I paused it and thought to myself, "When is the last time a movie freaked me the fuck out like this one?" It has been a while. Easily the best found footage movie since The Blair Witch Project. I guess my only complaints would be that the shaky cam is a bit much (although that's a given) and the way the main story (if you can even call it that) unfolds was slightly unsatisfying. Otherwise, I was quite impressed and very creeped out.

echo_bravo · #2 09-01-2012, 04:49 PM

Actually have never even heard of this film until now.

I'll probably check it out

jaw2929 · #3 09-01-2012, 11:10 PM

So I saw the trailer for this movie from the Joblo twitter feed. Thought it looked pretty decent, and had just discovered that it was released yesterday on "On Demand" before it hits theatre's next month.

Saw that it's $10 to order it on demand, and today's my birthday. So I figured, why not? Well turns out to be pretty over-rated from the reviews I've been reading on it here lately.

It's basically a "found footage" type movie, where it has about 5 shorts throughout. The general premise is that a group of guys are hired by some unknown 3rd party to steal a VHS tape from a supposedly abandoned house, and they'd get paid big bucks. So while searching for the right tape, they pop in a few and watch them.... Each tape they watch is a new little horror "short" also in the "found footage" style. One specifically using a "Skype" like program which really would have no business being on a VHS tape anyway.

Regardless there's about 5 or 6 stories in total, and really only the first two are worth a SHIT in my opinion. The others were mildly amusing at best, and boring/implausible and stupid at worst. Definitely NOT as good as the Paranormal Activity films, Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project as far as the found footage horror genre is concerned. There really wasn't a lot of "tension" as the reviews/trailer would also have you believe either.

Overall it was disappointing, and definitely NOT worth the $10 spent on it... That's for sure! But I will still give the first two shorts credit for entertaining me and being pretty cool.

Bourne101 · #4 09-02-2012, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaw2929

Definitely NOT as good as the Paranormal Activity films, Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project as far as the found footage horror genre is concerned.

I thought it was leagues better than the Paranormal Activity movies and Cloverfield. There is zero tension or creativity in the Paranormal Activity movies. The best they can come up with is a haunted pool cleaner. I enjoyed Cloverfield, but even at 85 minutes it seemed to overstay its welcome. Blair Witch is, of course, the benchmark and will probably never be topped. I'm not really a fan of this sub-genre at all, but found V/H/S to be pretty damn entertaining and pretty chilling at times. While you only enjoyed the first two segments, I actually thought the Skype one was pretty good and thought the last one ended the film with a bang. The only one that was a little iffy for me was the one in the woods, which had an interesting concept, but rather weak execution.

spooky · #5 09-02-2012, 03:45 AM

is this film any better than The Poughkeepsie Tapes?

BadCoverVersion · #6 09-02-2012, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bourne101

I thought it was leagues better than the Paranormal Activity movies and Cloverfield. There is zero tension or creativity in the Paranormal Activity movies. The best they can come up with is a haunted pool cleaner. I enjoyed Cloverfield, but even at 85 minutes it seemed to overstay its welcome. Blair Witch is, of course, the benchmark and will probably never be topped. I'm not really a fan of this sub-genre at all, but found V/H/S to be pretty damn entertaining and pretty chilling at times. While you only enjoyed the first two segments, I actually thought the Skype one was pretty good and thought the last one ended the film with a bang. The only one that was a little iffy for me was the one in the woods, which had an interesting concept, but rather weak execution.

You pretty much captured everything I came here to say. The woods was certainly the weak spot but I thoroughly enjoyed the first, last and webcam stories.

Paranormal Activity is one of the most overhyped films of recent years for me.

PSU80 · #7 09-02-2012, 05:33 AM

Paranormal Activity may have a tad bit overhyped. However, it was still a solid film, and, the characters seemed genuinely frightened. Most films fail to pull off illustrating fear, whereas Paranormal Activity, captured it brilliantly.

BadCoverVersion · #8 09-02-2012, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSU80

Paranormal Activity may have a tad bit overhyped. However, it was still a solid film, and, the characters seemed genuinely frightened. Most films fail to pull off illustrating fear, whereas Paranormal Activity, captured it brilliantly.

The protagonists in Paranormal Activity were such irritating cretins that I wanted them to die within about 15 minutes of the film starting. It's all subjective of course, but it didn't scare me in the slightest and I didn't buy into the characters and their somewhat farcical actions.

As for a fairly recent film portraying fear convincingly, I would recommend Kill List...if only for the tunnels scene.

dellamorte dellamore · #9 09-02-2012, 10:20 AM

These types of films are still some of my favorite horror, when done effectively they are scarier than a traditionally shot film.

I thought Blair Witch and Last Broadcast were two of the shining examples of this style ( one was purely " found footage ", one mixed found footage with a documentary style ), with REC 1 and 2, Quarantine, Diary of the Dead, The Tunnel , Cloverfield, Zombie Diaries, Last Exorcism, and the Paranormal series, reinvigorating this style the last 5 years . ( still have to see In Memorium )

I never tire of this format, it's raw and visceral, V/H/S looks like a genuinely creepy film that carries on the tradition of the best of the genre and i like how it's an anthology of sorts also, excellent concept to combine the two, found footage and anthology.

I don't want to get too excited but i'm definitely looking forward to this film .

echo_bravo · #10 09-06-2012, 10:06 PM

Honestly I thought it was decent but by no means in the same league as The Blair Witch Project

The 1st story was the most fucked up imo.

Superplasmatron · #11 09-08-2012, 07:23 AM

I thought it was better than the other "found footage" films you are comparing it too, though the story with the pixelated killer was awful,
I liked the last story most, Ti West's wasn't great but aside from it being too long and the Main Story Arc being a wasted opportunity, it was ok. I liked the last one the most as it reminded me of the campy anthology pieces that such as the hammer ones and the creepshow films, what with all the hands and things. I'm wondering if Ti West's house of the devil was a lucky accident.

Superplasmatron · #12 09-08-2012, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSU80

Paranormal Activity may have a tad bit overhyped. However, it was still a solid film, and, the characters seemed genuinely frightened. Most films fail to pull off illustrating fear, whereas Paranormal Activity, captured it brilliantly.

they where horrible, the guys, i'm gonna do all the things you shouldn't do to annoy a ghost shtick made you glad he died, and what with the alternate endings, paranormal activity was a wasted opportunity.

dellamorte dellamore · #13 09-08-2012, 10:18 AM

PA was very effective because it tweaked your imagination and the way it used sound to unsettle you was brillaint.

The sequels started to show more but even then they used the visual aspect to elicit scares and create tension sparingly .

They earned the shocks in those films instead of having the equivalent of a cat jumping out at random they built the tension with intriguing storylines and an expert narrative . They are like master classes on how to create and sustain suspense in the most simplistic of ways .

I never had a problem with the acting in those films, they always felt natural and believable .

Don't want to compare them to VHS, i can't anyway because i haven't seen it yet but i'm not expecting another PA type film, the only similarity i see is that it's considered found footage

psycheoutsteve · #14 09-09-2012, 09:57 AM

Just saw this recently and I was not impressed at all. To be honest, it was pretty much straight up trash trying to masquerade as an inventive found footage horror film. The premise linking all the stories together was interesting enough, but the stories themselves are pathetic in a storytelling sense and overly gratuitous in the nudity and gore department. I somewhat enjoyed the last story, but that wasn't enough to save the film for me. 3/10.

Lost in Space · #15 09-12-2012, 09:34 PM

I just watched this on Zune marketplace (yes it's good for something), and I can't say I was floored. It was a nice little film that had it's very creepy moments, but two days later I can't say much of it has stuck with me. Omnibus films like this one are always risky, and the runtime on it felt a little long... (maybe cut the video in the woods?). Maybe I'm still just burnt out on "found footage" flicks...

PSU80 · #16 09-13-2012, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superplasmatron

they where horrible, the guys, i'm gonna do all the things you shouldn't do to annoy a ghost shtick made you glad he died, and what with the alternate endings, paranormal activity was a wasted opportunity.

I never said they were great. I agree that Micah was annoying and definitely not acting very realistic to the reality of the situation. Katie's fear was the one that sold me. Especially her depair upon Micah finding her childhood picture in the attic.

gabriel1980 · #17 09-13-2012, 03:08 AM

anyone know when this is coming out in the UK?

Ruly2 · #18 09-14-2012, 07:35 AM

The Bluray and DVD date for V/H/S has been announced for the begining of December.

moose1132 · #19 09-23-2012, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superplasmatron

I thought it was better than the other "found footage" films you are comparing it too, though the story with the pixelated killer was awful,
I liked the last story most, Ti West's wasn't great but aside from it being too long and the Main Story Arc being a wasted opportunity, it was ok. I liked the last one the most as it reminded me of the campy anthology pieces that such as the hammer ones and the creepshow films, what with all the hands and things. I'm wondering if Ti West's house of the devil was a lucky accident.

I actually thought House of the Devil had a poor payoff. West seems to be excellent with building up tension and setting things up, but the payoff never quite matches it for me. The same can be said about the Innkeepers. Both movies had some awesome creepy moments in them though. It seems like he has a ton of potential.

I'd really like to see V/H/S as well since I need to watch at least some new horror movies around Halloween time. It just sucks that it costs $10-12 to rent it right now depending on where I've found it. It doesn't cost me half that much to go see a movie in the theater if I stick with matinee times (as I always do!).

cerealkiller182 · #20 09-25-2012, 01:51 PM

I dug VHS, but like so many anthologies and found footage movies, it just couldn't bring it home.

TTGSteve · #21 09-26-2012, 02:04 AM

I'm going to have to check it out, but I have a feeling that it's just going to be another overhyped movie. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Cop No. 633 · #22 09-28-2012, 03:52 AM

I thought it was decent, but not particularly memorable except for the last story. My main problem was actually similar to Paranormal Activity: I found most of the characters to be annoying or flat. Not all the shorts were top notch, but it was entertaining for what it was. I think the last short was the strongest and simplest one.

I had a few issues with a couple of shorts, like what the hell did those ghost kids want with the woman's fetus? That one didn't make sense. It felt like it was a twist for the sake of having one and no reasonable explanation.

If they make VHS 2, I'd like to see some female directors take helm and give it some variety. It felt like it had a bit too much testosterone at times. Also, the wrap around story wasn't needed. It made no sense, and the characters were dumb and probably the worst thieves I've ever seen in a movie.

Bourne101 · #23 09-28-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cop No. 633

probably the worst thieves I've ever seen in a movie.

Haha, agreed. That part of the movie really didn't work for me. I think showing people finding tapes is fine, as it avoids just randomly starting a string of shorts, but incorporating those people into a story didn't work in this case. I think it could be done in an interesting way, but it seemed really half-assed.

After reflecting on the movie a bit, I'm still very much a fan. I think the first two and last shorts are really good, with the woods killer one being pretty bad and the Skype one being interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying. I'd like to see more of these kinds of movies though. Many modern horror movies have good ideas that don't warrant a feature length runtime. By getting some talented people to each make a short film and put them all together, it makes for a better overall viewing experience than some high-concept idea stretched into a two hour movie. It also gives me a chance to watch some well-made horror shorts, which I probably wouldn't actively seek out otherwise.

Cunning Visions · #24 09-28-2012, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cop No. 633

I had a few issues with a couple of shorts, like what the hell did those ghost kids want with the woman's fetus? That one didn't make sense. It felt like it was a twist for the sake of having one and no reasonable explanation.

Spoiler:

Ruly2 · #25 09-28-2012, 06:45 PM

Bluray and dvd date is set and confirmed for 12/4
source: amazon.com

magjournal · #26 09-28-2012, 08:45 PM

My review: http://www.magjournal.net/vhs-review/

tl;dr version, I didn't like it at all.

Cop No. 633 · #27 09-29-2012, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cunning Visions

Spoiler:

You have to be shitting me. If that's the case...

Spoiler:

BadCoverVersion · #28 09-29-2012, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cop No. 633

You have to be shitting me. If that's the case...

Spoiler:

echo_bravo · #29 09-29-2012, 01:00 PM

psycheoutsteve · #30 09-30-2012, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadCoverVersion

Spoiler:

Aliens or no aliens, it was still a pretty shitty short. The beginning was solid, but the alien twist was lame and overall the whole thing came off as a wasted opportunity to do something fun and scary.

Herald · #31 10-22-2012, 06:10 PM

Ugh, what a stupid movie this is. First of all, who uses VHS nowadays? Second, what the hell was this movie about? A movie about people who videotape everything who watch movies from people who videotape everything. The burglar story doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't have a payoff or any explanation why some guy took the time to collect VHS tapes from digital camera's and has the tapes start at exactly the right moment. He rewound them all? That's kind.

The first two stories are pretty straightforward, the woods clip is too much like a cartoon, the webcam segment had two pairs of boobs and I loved the second pair, but it was too obscure what it all meant. I read on Wikipedia that the last segment was about an exorcism and knowing that makes it actually OK. The last three segments at least don't waste too much time to set things up. That was my biggest peeve with the second story, the payoff was decent but 90% of what was shown didn't really matter to the story.

In the end I don't get the praise for this movie.