I’ve enjoyed the whole V/H/S series of films. The concept of
forgotten video tapes used to tell an anthology of tales is a great one and
brings back so many memories for fans of actual VHS tapes and the mom and pop
stores that stocked them. Not only has the series been a good one, each has offered
something different. While the wraparound story of the first seemed a bit
strained, each new movie has tried to improve on that aspect to start with and
then added great stories in the mix. Are all great? Maybe not, but enough are
to generate interests, to cause the movies to be recommended and to sit back
and enjoy if you’re a horror fan.
This time around a video fanatic is shooting footage at home
when he notices a police chase on the local news station. As the chase moves
past his front window, this video obsessed guy runs into the street to see what
he can shoot. This continue throughout the film as the wraparound stories have
in the past.
From there it moves on the “Dante’s Cape”, a tale of a
magician who derives his magic from the cape he wears. But at what cost? While
some consider this a decent story they’ve also complained that it could have
been done better. Considering the miniscule budget of these films I have no
doubt that every penny offered was put on screen for this. I had no problem
with it and enjoyed it.
The next story is “Parallel Monsters”. A scientists creates
a doorway into another dimension where he finds that his own alter ego there
has done the same. The two trade places in each other’s worlds only for ours to
find out that they aren’t quite the mirror images he thought they were. This
one offers some nice surprises and the right combination of science fiction and
horror that you don’t see much these days.
Third up is “Bonestorm” and perhaps the weakest of the lot.
It involves a group of teenage waste heads who want to do little more than ride
their skateboards around wearing GoPro cameras on the helmets they wear.
Hearing of a great skate location south of the border in Tijuana, they head
that way only to encounter a satanic group holding court there. The biggest
problem with this one is its length. With the amount of story on hand for this
one the film takes up far too much time that could have been better spent.
Lastly we return to the wraparound. The video fanatic soon
finds his girlfriend, who he was filming everywhere when the movie began,
caught up in the chase as well having been picked up by the ice cream truck the
police have been chasing. This item features one of the goriest shots but not
much more than that. It felt a bit tedious at best and not even as good as the
wraparound in the first film.
When all was said and done I at first thought this might be
the best of the bunch. But the more I thought about it the less impressed I
was. At the same time I’ve read a number of other reviews where the hate for
this one is far more than it needs to be. Perhaps the best thing that could
happen would be for someone to release the ultimate V/H/S movie, combining the
best episodes from each film with a wraparound that surpassed all three films.
Only then would everyone be happy. In the meantime this is a series of films
that I wouldn’t mind seeing continued, unlike the similar ABC’S OF DEATH. My
suggestion is to watch all three together and choose your favorite episodes.
While this one isn’t terrible it is also not quite the best.
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