Death by VHS

Director(s) - Scarlet Fry (Junkfood Horrorfest), Jacob D. O'Neal, and David Sabal (Western X)
Starring - Brennen Benson, Jay Bennett, and Kelsee Benson
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Insert Cassette Press Play... DIE"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

     It is not often that I review an anthology and that is for a reason.  It is hard to find the right format for the film because the movie is not just one movie but a set of movies.  I always find it unfair that anthologies are judged as an overall film instead of various films.  I have watched my fair share of anthology films and a good bit are filled with horrible segments, however, the film has a few good segments that make the film worth watching.  That brings me to this film here.  I found Scarlet Fry on Facebook and he hit me up with a screener of this film to review.  The first thought that came to my mind was that it was a film similar in style as the recent anthology film V/H/S.  I personally did not like V/H/S and hoped that this film did something that film could not and entertain me.  I popped this bad boy in to see what is was all about.

Tale #1: Suburban She Freak

     Rating (out of 5):

     This tale is about a young girl who is afraid to leave her apartment because of a birth defect that covers half her face.  Things change when she orders a potion online, however, things do not go the way she had planned.  The potion does fix her face but turns her in to a blood craving vampire.  She attacks her blind date before turning her fangs on her loving roommate.


     After just a few minutes in to this one I knew I would not like this tale as much as I would like to.  From the beginning I realized the acting was not that great.  In fact, it was very hard to watch.  I did a little looking and discovered that this is most of the cast's first film.  I would not mind seeing them in another film after they get some more practice.  The story is very clever and very well written. The story also unfolds very well on film.  This story could easily be adapted in to a full length film.  Finally, the special effects in this segment are lacking but do fit the story.  Vampire films are not necessarily known for their special effects.  However, they are known for their kills scenes and this one misses on those completely.

  Tale #2

Rating (out of 5):

 
      The tale follows a young cigar smoking man as he fights off the undead with a baseball bat.  He returns to his home where he dies and comes back as a member of the undead horde.  He exits his home where he meets another member of the undead and the two feast on the corpse of a young girl.



        This particular tale looked amazing at first and then went nowhere.  There was so much potential and it was just flushed away.  The acting in this tale is hard to judge because there is no dialogue between two living people.   The only thing I can really say is that the lead actor could have worked a little harder at delivering a very convincing death.  The story is actually very weak even for a short.  I honestly believe some more thought and work could have been applied to the story which would resulted in a very strong segment.  This segment just seemed a little too artsy and not enough horror.  Finally, the high point of this segment was the special effects.  The gore looked decent and the only zombie we really see up close looked fucking amazing.  I love seeing zombies look like this.  A zombie film is pointless if the zombies look shitty and this tale knows it.

Tale #3: Christmas Krampus

Rating (out of 5):

     This tale follows a mentally handicapped boy who lives with his alcoholic father and verbally abusive mother.  The mother is sick of taking care of her mental giant and wants to put him up for adoption.  He hears the news and becomes very upset and to make matters worse it is the Christmas season.  The young boy prays that his parents die and he gets exactly that.  An evil Krampus arrives an kills them both.

     Until this segment I actually had no hope for the film.  The other two let me down in a big way after getting my hopes up and the first few minutes of this short made me think it was going to be a disappointment as well.  However, it quickly picked it up and showed that their was still life in this anthology.  The acting is this is pretty damn bad and make most b-movies look like blockbusters.  The story is simple and not that detailed but is very effective for a short.  Sometimes you do not need a complex story to be effective and this one shows it.  Finally, the film has a few good death scenes and decent effects.  The highlight of this film is Krampus.  He looks very bad ass and I would love to see him in another short or a full length film.  

 

  Tale #4: Lepus

Rating (out of 5):

 
       This tale follows a homicidal maniac, that speaks what I assume is German, wearing an Easter bunny suite and slaughters the innocent on Halloween.  The only thing that stands in his way is a man in a Jesus Christ costume that is wielding a shotgun.     

 
     From the first few seconds of this story I knew I would love and it I'll be damned if I didn't.  I honestly went back and watched this particular segment again because I liked it that much.  The acting is the same as all the other segments.  A cast with more experience would have made this story so much more entertaining.  The story is nothing original but is truly funny and entertaining.  This is a great modernization of an 80's slasher flick and I would personally love to see this expanded in to a sequel or feature film.  Finally, we do get some on screen kills but the special effects are not the best I have seen.  In fact, it is actually some of the worst I have seen.  A more experienced cast and better special effects would have made this one an amazing short.

 

Tale #5: Regenerate

Rating (out of 5):

  
    

This tale follows a beautiful young girl in a wheelchair who suffers domestic violence at the hands of her asshole boyfriend.  Her very loving friend works for a company that does medical testing and steals her some medication that can make her walk for a short period of time.  She gives it to her friend in hopes that she would run away before suffering another beating.  However, things do not go according to plan and her boyfriend hits her in the head and kills her.  Later her body re-animates and she exacts her revenge on the poor son of a bitch.
     This segment is honestly the biggest let down of the entire film.  The segment is claustrophobic and takes place in one room with nothing going for it.  The only high point of this one is the acting.  The acting is actually the best of all the other shorts.  Sadly, that is the only praise point.  The story is flat and one dimensional.  The movie slowly starts and slowly ends making no real attempt to entertain.  Finally, we get no special effects and no real on screen kills.  This short weakens the entire film making it difficult to continue out of fear the remaining segments will be just as bad.

Tale #6: Death by VHS 

   Rating (out of 5):

    This is the bookend tale that holds all the others together.  This tale follows two junkies that buy a VCR and a series of VHS tapes (the films mentioned above). After viewing each segment, the pair become more and more ill before dying after the final film.  The drugdealer, a white Jamaican, visits the home after they die to retrieve the VCR and tape to re-sell to another unsuspecting victim.  

     I honestly wish there was more to this particular segment because I really liked the concept.  Sadly, it was short and really had no plot other than holding the other films together.  The acting is hard to judge because the pair hardly talk but they do eat and hit the bong a bit.  Finally, we don't get any real on screen deaths but we do get some decent special effects.  I love the way the corpses look when the segment ends.  Truly amazing if you ask me.

    Just like most anthology films this one has high points and some very low points.  The most common complaint I can find with these segments are the acting.  Adding some more experienced cast members would have made the film better overall.  Some of the stories are actually decent but most are just slow building and uneventful making it hard to follow.  Some more thought in pre-production would have went a long way on a lot of these.  Finally, the special effects we do get are on the bad side.  I have seen a lot of bad movies and most of them had better special effects than this one has to offer.  Overall, this anthology has a few very bad segments but the ones that are good make the film worth watching.  I recommend this one but you will have to take the good with the bad.