Movie Night at the Rec Hall -- VHS2 Part 1

-Contributed by Luke Merrill

V/H/S/2

The first in a long Weekend of Horror Flicks viewed here at Horror Camp, V/H/S/2 was the first in the running. Following in the tradition of shaky hand-cam titles, such as the Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, V/H/S/2 is a collection of films all told from first person point of view perspective in order to heighten the viewer’s sense of terror and reality.

V/H/S/2 is a film that realizes true terror is buried in the archaic remnants of poorly labeled difficult to obtain videocassettes, which actually makes very little sense on account just about every camcorder involved in filming the segments that comprise the movie were all digital. Apparently the dark lords of the netherworld need all their media dubbed to cassette to view their movies. But if Hell is truly as brutal and abysmal as the stories would have me believe, I could understand them only watching cathode ray televisions and videocassette players with poorly wired co-ax cable connecting them together. Most likely they only get basic cable in Hell, but I digress.

I swear I think it is watching me.

V/H/S/2 is based loosely around the premise of a private investigator and his assistant (girlfriend?) who search an abandoned house for a lost college student. Apparently this student had a per chant for collecting occult videocassettes, and in an effort to piece together what has happened they view 4 short films in order to piece together the puzzle. To start off, I have to say this opening story is really only included in the movie to set an ominous tone, and consequently to relate 4 completely differing horror stories together that in no way can be tied together at all. I myself would rather have the movie called, V/H/S/2 a collection of 4 short horror films, but it has become a Moviemaker trend to attempt to tie short films together in an effort to keep you watching till the very end. I‘ll tell you right now, absolutely not necessary, not even necessary to watch V/H/S the first film. You can just dive right in to any of the four shorts, and probably better for you to know this now, if you don’t like the direction of one film just go to the next one, it is absolutely irrelevant to plot progression.

The first short film was entitled, “Phase I Clinical Trials”. The film starts off with a man who just recovered from an experimental eye surgery. Having just recently lost an eye in a car accident he signs up for an experimental eye implant, which will allow him to see with a prosthetic digital camcorder eye. He is told to expect some “glitches” when looking through his new eye, and because the eye is in experimental status he will be recorded for the duration of the trials. Things escalate from there rather quickly, which is a common theme with this movie. He begins to see these “glitches” in terms of dead people roaming his home and scaring the bejesus out of him. First person POV absolutely capitalizes off of this, as our protagonist is forever looking away only to turn around and ‘gasp’ dead person! Still the story line was fairly enjoyable, but like most films in this series, it ends abruptly with the viewer asking him/herself well what just happened?

Truly disturbing imagery

The next short “A Ride in the Park” involves a young man web-casting his adventure trail bike ride, most likely for some video blog or podcast, when he encounters a screaming woman out in the woods crying for help. In an effort to try and console the woman, she cries out that her and her boyfriend had been attacked before she falls victim to violent retching convulsions. The man notices some ominous shambling, some yards away and sees some apparently sick and ‘not right ‘ people moving towards him.  Trying to get the woman to safety, she violently and unexpectedly attacks him, biting and tearing at him. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’ll come out and say it, we are now watching a zombie movie.

Things escalate quickly , and we now have a first person POV of our young protagonist as he is turned into one of the denizens of the undead at the onset of a zombie outbreak. Now I’m not averse to zombie movies, and I appreciate the fact that they stay true to some of the more traditional of the zombie precepts, but I didn’t much care for this film. First person attacks full of blood, vomit, and disemboweling just gets a little gross, and the first person POV almost humanizes the plight of this undead  moron. All this combined with the growing sense of vertigo from all the shaky hand camera work you have been subjected to up to this point  may have you reaching for your shaky hand vomit bucket.

But the troublesome reality of this film  is that zombies are so dumb. They are the dumbest thing we have roaming around our woods, and the fact this outbreak begins in the woods seems dumber still. If I’m approached by a zombie, I have ample time to climb a tree. They forget you are even there after five minutes. Zombies have the worst ADHD. What’s the max number of zombies in the woods at any given time? No scratch that what’s the max number of living human being in the woods at any given time? In 2013, like maybe 2? Zombies are only threatening in the city, because there are no trees to climb, no wide open spaces to run down, and no lakes you can get on. Zombies can’t climb, run or swim everyone wants to forget that. So the film didn’t really speak to me, but for those horror buffs who can’t get enough of zombies you may enjoy “A Ride in the Park”

V/H/S/2 has 2 other short films included in it, with the best still yet to come. Check back in tomorrow as we continue our weekend long review of Movie Night at the Rec Hall where we will finish V/H/S/2, and still lots more to come. Lock those shutters up and Good Night from you Head Counselor.

Tags: Ghost, Movie Night at the Rec Hall, Zombies, VHS2, Horror Camp