







Despite the fact that it is becoming an overused film making technique, I am still a sucker for a well done found footage-style movie; especially when it comes to horror films.





Maybe it's because of how personal and claustrophobic they can feel...or maybe it's because of how overproduced and stylized many horror films made today can look. But give me a movie shot from the point of view of a moderately unsteady home camera (which can somehow also do wide angle shots as well as film in HD) and I'm at least interested in watching it.





That's why when I heard about V/H/S , a found footage horror anthology that featured four unique and terrifying tales, I was pretty excited.

























Was this just a marketing ploy, or was the film really so scary and visceral that it could make someone lose consciousness? When it became available online, I decided to find out for myself.









For any of you that are interested in seeing the movie (it's available on Netflix ), I must warn you that while I did not pass out, it is pretty terrifying and fairly gruesome in some parts. The only part I didn't really care for was the wrap around story that connected the rest of the short films together. Otherwise, all four vignettes were very entertaining.





--------- Spoilers for V/H/S Ahead --------

(But you really should have seen this movie by now)









The first one in particular, however, entitled 'Amateur Night', was by far the best of the bunch. It involved a group of three douche bags who were going out that night to find some girls to take back to their hotel room...and secretly film their raunchy activities with.





To get around the whole "Hey, what the heck is that red light?" problem, one of the men had equipped himself with a pair of hipster glasses that also had a camera installed, making a recording of everything he saw...and giving a great reason to get around the whole "DROP THE CAMERA AND RUN, YOU IDIOT!" issues that plague the more intense moments of any food footage story.











The group heads out and picks up a couple girls. One of them, played by Hannah Fierman , is not at all what she seems. Sure enough, things go from drunken hedonism to people getting eaten and having their balls ripped off (yes, that actually happens) pretty quickly.

photo by Kelly Blackmon

Before consuming alcohol









After one too many wine coolers









You know things have gotten bad when you actually feel yourself sympathizing and even rooting for a group of douche nozzles as they are brutally slaughtered by a relentlessly homicidal succubus. Fierman's performance was so unsettling that it instantly made me regret watching the movie alone at night with the lights off.



What really struck me about her portrayal of 'Lily', however, was how much range she showed. While she was meeting the trio of men at the bar (before turning into an out of control killing machine) her character came across as some sort of alien being without the aide of any prosthetics or effects.



Her repeated whispering of "I like you" to the one guy she was able to restrain herself from eviscerating was also a little bit sweet and insanely creepy.









This normally means that your wing men are no

longer needed, not that they will soon die a terrible death



The film had a limited release in October, but it developed a large cult following online thanks to The film had a limited release in October, but it developed a large cult following online thanks to Netflix (and probably a fair share of illegal downloading). Most people loved it, some didn't, but everyone seemed to have been spellbound by "the 'I Like You' girl" from the first segment of the film.





I decided to look Hannah up and see what else she had done. It turns out that her young career is being steadily built upon her ability to transform completely into different types of characters (all with big, beautiful eyes).



Hannah's acting reel, which is embedded below, features her as:





-A terrified woman being stalked

-An early 20th century aristocrat

-A comically homicidal redneck

-A dimwitted best friend with poor parenting skills

-A neurotic (and strangely voiced) admirer

-An illegal prescription drug dealer







