V/H/S
Dir: Ti West, Radio Silence, Joe Swanberg, David Brukner, Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid
2012
***
 Found Footage has been overdone a little of late, it can get a bit samey so I welcome the inventiveness that V/H/S brings. That said, V/H/S is basically 50% brilliant and 50% crap. The film that binds the shorts together (tape 56) is probably the worst part of this film as it brings nothing to the overall film and it doesn't lead into the short films particularly well and is unnecessarily nasty at the start which I'm sure must have put many people of right away. The first film, Amateur Night, is probably the best of the lot. It has real scares, is creepy throughout and reaches a brilliant conclusion. Second Honeymoon is boring in comparison, the twist ending is disappointing to say the least, not to mention far too graphic to be on the right side of acceptable. The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger was original and effective, probably the cleverest of the films but again, I think it could have been explored better and dare I say, saved for it's own feature length film. Tuesday the 17th is the token spoof film that seems totally out of place. Although, as ridiculous as the pixelated bad guy was, I quite liked him. The last film, 10/31/98 is probably the most fun of the films. The mysterious collective of directors that call themselves Radio Silence go for all out action. No need for character development, they get down to business, an idea that serves the film well. Overall, the film is definitely worth watching, along with The Cabin in the Woods (also released in 2012), this defines a genre to the point where others need to up their game (or stop). The overall aspect I most object to (apart from the fact very little of it is filmed on VHS) are the constant sexual and often sexually-violent scenes. What is it with horror films and guys with hand-held cameras? It's probably the most disturbing factor for me and it doesn't sit well, it's not nice seeing women treated like this and it's not nice seeing young men constantly portrayed as rapists. Let's see an end to it and some female horror directors would be a nice change too!