V/H/S (2012) is basically lots of mini horror movies rolled into one collection. The main story is that a group of criminals have to go and steal one V/H/S tape for someone else. Why? We don’t know. And really, we don’t care, because that isn’t the point of this film. Is it the scariest movie of the year, as said by some, I’m not sure. Does it provide some gruesome and terrifying moments? Yes it does.

What’s on the V/H/S tapes ranges from creatures, to crazy girlfriends, to mysterious pixelated figures running around the woods, each of them bringing a different and creative idea to the table. My personal favourite is one that uses an online web chat between two people when one of the houses seems to be haunted.

Another good thing about this film is that it doesn’t shy away from showing us the gory details. There is a lot of blood in this film, not enough to rival Evil Dead but still, it’s not for the faint hearted. An example would be a close up shot of a guy getting his throat cut for a good 30 seconds.

However, there are some issues. The main one for me is the pacing. It isn’t a particularly long film but it kind of moves at a snail’s pace. They spend too much time at the beginning with the criminals who no one really cares about. We know they’re going to find the tapes so get on with it! Also because there are several different stories, they all need to be individually set up and new characters need to be introduced. Who again, we know are probably going to die so we don’t really care about them. That being said, the time spent with them before the horror starts does let you imagine what terror will meet them later on.

Overall a good, new, creative take on a horror movie. Honestly I was expecting more jumpy moments and to have to hide behind a blanket but never mind. It provided some nice gory moments and each tape stood its ground against the other. Definitely worth a watch if you’re a horror fan.