V/H/S (2012)

dir Adam Wingard, Davis Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence cast Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Kentucker Adley, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman, Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal, Norma C. Quinones, Helen Rogers, Daniel Kaufman, Nicole Erb

A revival of the old portmanteau format made famous by Dead of Night (1946) and the films of Amicus Productions in the 60s and 70s, crossed with the found-footage style of The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Paranormal Activity (2007), this is an uneven, but frequently entertaining mix.

In the wrapaound segment, "Tape 56", directed by Wingard, a group of thugs who make money filming their own acts of vandalism and assault sneak into a house to steal a videotape wanted by a mysterious employer. They find a corpse and a stack of VHS tapes that they then watch, hoping to discover the one they are searching for. The rest of the segments, of course, represent the contents of the tapes they watch.

In "Amateur Night", directed by Bruckner, a bunch of drunken slimeballs go out on the town, hoping for easy sex. Unfortunately for them, they pick up the wrong girl and meet a very bloody, but richly-deserved, fate. This segment has obvious strengths and weaknesses. The main drawback is that we actually have to spend time with the bar-crawling idiots, which is even more painful than the horrors that are inflicted upon them at the end of the segment. Of course, watching scummy characters get what's coming to them seems to be a major trope in recent horror, but I think these guys are even more annoying than intended. On the other hand, Hannah Fierman does a masterful job playing the monster. Slim, pop-eyed, and spacy, she's exactly what a supernatural creature masquerading as human would be if such a thing were to turn up on the real world.

"Second Honeymoon" is the most restrained of the bunch. This is not surprising as the director is Ti West who in The House of the Devil (2009) and The Innkeepers (2011), directed two of the most Lewtonesque horror films of recent years. Two young marrieds traveling through the West on vacation are stalked, unknown to them, by a plastic-masked figure with a very large knife. What does this person want from them? This was somewhat conventional, but played to a satisfying conclusion.

The less said about the Glenn McQuaid-directed "Tuesday the 17th", the better. The only good thing about this one is that it's short. Three kids travel to a small lake where a series of brutal murders took place not long ago. You can guess the rest. Just another cookie-cutter 80's slasher cut down to 20 minutes.

The most notable thing about "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" is that we see it through Skype, rather than a hand-held camera. A young woman has regular conversations with a lifelong male friend in anticipation of his imminent visit. He is able to see through her computer that a strange presence seems to be haunting her apartment. No points for guessing that everything is most definitely not as it seems. This episode is just OK, but does feature a very good performance by Helen Rogers as Emily. She's very appealing as an emotionally fragile, but game character who seems to take the weird occurrences in stride. Nicely played. This one also features some hilariously gratuitous topless shots.

The last segment, "10/31/98", directed by the collective Radio Silence, rivals "Amateur Night" and "Second Honeymoon" as the best of the segments. A group of 20-something guys, on their way to a Halloween party in Seattle, get lost. When they think they've discovered the house, it seems deserted, but they do hear some strange noises in the attic. When they go to investigate, all hell breaks loose, almost literally.

I watched  V/H/S late on a dull night on Netflix streaming, and didn't feel that I wasted 2 hours of my time. The found-footage style has definitely been overdone in recent years, but V/H/S does a good job making the style work to its advantage. It's not destined to be remembered as a classic, but is perfectly entertaining for horror fans.