Friday Night Thriller Theater
Every Friday, I'll be recommending a scary movie that's available to stream from NetFlix!
Tonight, it's VHS 2!
VHS 2 continues the found-footage throwback madness started with 2012's VHS but is superior to its predecessor in almost every way: intelligence, scares, carnage, gore, overall filmmaking skill, humor, and head shots... Seriously, there's more head shots in this movie than a Call of Duty Death Match.
The one thing it doesn't surpass from the first film is, curiously, boobs. Only one pair show up in VHS 2. But they're a nice pair and... unexpected.
As with its predecessor, VHS 2 is a collection of four found-footage horror vignettes captured on stacks of glorious old video cassette tapes. The vignettes run the horror gamut from haunting, to zombie outbreak, to pagan death cult, to alien abduction. In the wrap-around story, the VHS tapes appear to be the key for two amoral private investigators to determine the whereabouts of a missing college kid.
Unfortunately for the private eyes, when the tapes are watched in proper sequence, bad things tend to happen to the viewer.
VHS 2 was made by a collection of young, up-and-coming auteurs along with the pioneers of the found footage genre. "Tape 49" was directed by VHS alum Simon Barrett, the screenwriter for the 2013 horror film, You're Next. "Phase I Clinical Trials" was directed by Adam Wingard, also an alumnus of the first VHS film and director of You're Next. The creators of The Blair Witch Project, Greg Hale & Eduardo Sanchez, directed "A Ride in the Park." Gareth Evans, director of The Raid: Redemption, and Timo Tjahjanto director of Macabre, helmed "Safe Haven." And finally, Hobo with a Shotgun director, Jason Eisener, shot "Slumber Party Alien Abduction."
The prevailing attitude in the horror community seems to be that the found footage genre has overstayed it's welcome. I agree that it's a bit played out, but I'm always happy to watch quality work for a fun scare. VHS 2 fits that bill.
Stream it tonight on Netflix!
VHS 2 Trailer
Mua-ha-haaaaa!!
Enjoy!!
and…
Happy Halloween!!
No comments:
Post a Comment