If you are looking for something entirely different to anything else around at the moment, you may want to check out new horror film House Of VHS. Coming from French director Gautier Cazanave, House Of VHS goes back to the good old days when directors like Peter Jackson were shooting delightful little schlock horrors.
The film features six young characters from across the globe; The Italian Girl, The Australian Guy, The French Guy, The Belgian Girl, The British Girl and The American Guy. The gang heads off for a weekend at a house that turns out to be haunted by a VHS machine, of all things.
The weekend starts as you would normally expect; most of the guys are planning which girl they are going to try to get into bed which leads to tension between them. Things change though when The Australian Guy decides to educate the group on the beauty of VHS and they learn the powers of the supernatural device.
It sounds like an absolutely crazy idea, but House Of VHS works. Early on, you do find yourself wondering where the film is going to head. Once the abilities of the VHS are shown, the film goes to a whole new level. At times, there are attempts to head into comedy but House of VHS is at its best when it sticks to suspenseful schlock horror.
While suspense plays a crucial role, what really rises to the top and makes this film so thrilling is trying to work out exactly what the VHS machine is capable of. The idea that it can ‘breed’ VHS tapes together to create new films is interesting and the film takes a very different turn when you realise the ‘horrific’ power of the machine. As is typical, the youngsters make a fatal error when they start experimenting with the powers by putting themselves into movies.
Acting-wise, you get what you expect from a schlock-horror film. Nobody is going to win any awards anytime soon and the cast make-do with the script. Standouts are Isabel McCann as the most serious of the youngsters, while last-minute addition Petur Oskar Sigurdsson does a great job playing a naive and rude American.
As a director Gautier Cazanave takes his love of VHS and old-style horror films and creates a movie that is destined to become a cult classic. Horror fans will definitely be wanting to track down a copy of the film… just perhaps not on VHS.
