Horror anthologies always sound like a great idea during ideological conception, but unfortunately either end up being super hits or miserable misses. On the positive end you have a variety of well thought out short stories in films like Trick ‘R Treat and Creepshow, while others like The Theatre Bizarre and Deadtime Stories jam-pack one or two truly entertaining entries in between a load of garbage that bogs the overall film down. Chillerama is a great example of such wasted potential, delivering three killer short horror films by some of my favorite current directors, but disheartens with a short so unfathomably unwatchable, you have no choice but to give the entire film a failing grade just on principle.
Then along came V/H/S, a unique little horror collaboration piece that brought together budding genre directors like Ti West, Joe Swanberg, and Adam Wingard – only to challenge them with a fun restraint. Hinted at in the title, each director had to find a way to record his segment with any kind of non-traditional cinematic taping device, such as a handheld camcorder. One uses a video chat laptop function, one uses an old-school handheld recorder, another some kind of phone camera – all brilliant ways to put a twist on a tired “found footage” sub-genre. The film was a hit to both Remy and I, and has since spawned a sequel titled S-VHS which just premiered at Sundance to positive reviews so far.
With all this hoopla about a successful horror anthology franchise being established, there’s no doubt a V/H/S 3 awaits us somewhere down the road. I mean the formula is simple – just get a few decent directors, have them shoot a short horror film, and slap it together with a few more. It’s the efforts of many creating one solid product, taking minimal time for a maximum output. But who could contribute to helming a third?
Well, Remdog and I sure as hell don’t know any details, but two horror nerds can dream, no? Join us as we discuss the eight directors we’d want to see take part in the V/H/S universe, each bringing some sort of unique style or quirk. Are you listening Bloody Disgusting?!
