V/H/S is fuzzy

I am a horror anthology nut. I LOVE the portmanteau films, the old Amicus stuff - TALES FROM THE CRYPT, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, etc. - probably my favorite genre of film. So it should come as no surprise that I was looking forward to seeing the new anthology film VHS. It's available on Netflix streaming now and in Redbox, too. I actually rented a DVD copy at my local Redbox and gave it a watch. And quickly wished I hadn't.

It is a series of four, or five, I forget now - stories, all shot on VHS. They are all done found footage style, and all tied together through a flimsy plot of a house with a bunch of TVs in one room and a tape, or tapes, with these stories on them that our characters watch.

Honestly, this film is a mess. The wrap-around segment makes no sense. The individual stories range from so-so to flat out horrible. The characters are all, pretty much without exception, a bunch of stupid kids that are just assholes, the kind of people you see in public and pretty much wish would drive off a cliff. Seriously, there isn't one character in this film you give two shits about. This is a lazy film, with no suspense, tension, hell, no basic thought given to scene composition or really anything other than what looks like a rushed, amateur "horror" film.

There are EIGHT directors listed for this movie, including Ti West, and TWELVE writers. Maybe it's a case of too many cooks but this film is ugly to watch, incoherent, and inept. Avoid at all costs.