Contracted (2013) #367

"Contacted" is an interesting film about the gradual physical, mental, and emotional decline of a woman who is infected with some sort of disease or virus with an unknown man after a one night stand; and when I say gradual, I mean over the course of three days. What makes this movie intriguing, besides the gross out effects and ailments that plague the main character is the fact that most of the characters are not likable, making this feel more realistic than it first appears. At first, you want to feel empathetic for the main character Samantha but she turns on everyone around her and refuses the help that they offer. She won't go to the police after her friend Alice tells her that the police are looking for the man she slept with because she doesn't want her estranged girlfriend Nikki to find out that she was with a man. Samantha's mother comes across as too overbearing and judgemental, Nikki is rude and abrupt, Riley is a creepy guy who has a crush on Samantha, and so on. The movie is about the three days after Samantha contracts whatever it is that she has and how quickly she breaks down from it. The final act is brutal and unforgiving which is exactly what it needed to be.

Before

and after

V/H/S 2 (2013)

“V/H/S 2” is a vastly superior film when compared to the first anthology. This movie isn’t perfect but it was enjoyable and had a stronger connecting story. A typical problem with P.O.V films are the moments when the person filming the violent, intense events instead of running for their lives…or at least dropping the camera so they can actually get away. This happens more than once in this collection but there are some moments in the stories where it makes perfect sense!

The connecting story is about a couple of private investigators who are hired to find out what happened to a missing college student. They go to his house and find a room with a laptop and various VHS tapes. The girlfriend stays and watches clips from the laptop which shows the missing boy as well as a couple of the tapes while her boyfriend searches the rest of the house (sounds familiar, right???). It turns out that the missing student wants to star in his own VHS tape and has plans for the two investigators.

The first story line is about a man who suffered a horrible eye accident and has his eye replaced. As a part of a clinical study, the artificial eye is recording everything that he sees. But now he starts to see ghosts and soon a girl who had her hearing fixed by the same clinic goes to his house and explains that she can hear the ghosts. She wants to help him but ends up dying and the more he sees, the more aggressive the visions become.

The second story line, directed by Eduardo Sanchez (director of “The Blair Witch Project”), is about a man who loves to ride his bike through a large local park. One day while riding, he comes across a girl who is acting strangely. She’s strange because she’s a zombie and she bites him. He tries to ride away but soon the infection takes over and he falls to the ground. Soon two other bicyclists come and find him on the ground just as he fully turns into a zombie. He injures them and they turn. The three of them, along with other zombies in the park, walk upon a family birthday party in progress. The zombies attack, the children scream as parents are torn asunder or try to drive away with the kids. Some party people have guns and begin fighting back. The bike rider sees himself in a mirror as well as gets a phone call from his wife. With the last bits of humanity left within, he shoots himself in the head. The event was recorded by a camera that was strapped to his bike helmet.

The third story is about a documentary team filming a suicide cult in Indonesia who claims that it’s time to be reborn. The film crew goes to the cult’s compound and witnesses all sorts of disturbing behavior. The crew becomes split up right when the “moment of truth” occurs and they watch or suffer the results.

The fourth and final story line is also the weakest and least interesting in the anthology, which is about a group of kids at a sleep over and an older sister and her boyfriend who become targets of an alien abduction.

"Phase 1 Clinical Trials"

 "A Ride in the Park"

"Safe Haven"

"Slumber Party Alien Abduction"

V/H/S (2012)

I was really excited to see “V.H.S” and I am still unable to express how disappointed I was after I saw it. I was bored and uninterested during most of the movie and this feeling grew as the movie dragged on and on. I was only amused by two of the six shorts and they happened to have been at the beginning of the film. Overall the scripts were weak and the acting was even weaker. The effects were fine and I was thrilled to see some of the clever uses of the devices that gave a P.O.V perspective but there was one story that wasn’t even from the point of view of a video recorder of any kind?!? This was a great concept that just didn’t pan out.

The first and wrap around connecting story is about a group of punks who are hired to burglarize a house and return with a specific VHS tape. They go to the house and find a messy room with stacks of tapes and an old dead man. One of the kids stays and begins watching different tapes while the others searched the other rooms. The old man turns out to be in a zombie-like state and kills the intruders.

The second story, “Amateur Night”, is the strongest of the set. It’s seen through the eyes of a guy wearing a pair of Google Glasses which records everything that he sees. His friends are trying their best to hook him up with a girl for the night. While at a club, he meets a quiet girl who only says “I like you”. They take her and another girl back to a hotel room where they begin to have sex. One girl is drunk and passes out, leaving the quiet girl alone with the three guys. The two friends try to have sex with her while the main character watches; suddenly the quiet girl changes, developing scales and a weird face. The quiet girl is in a murderous mood and only wants the shy boy, repeating over and over “I like you”.

The third story, “Second Honeymoon”, is about Sam and Stephanie, a married couple travelling around a desert “Western” area. While they sleep, a stranger uses their video camera and films themselves going through their belongings. This happens a few times until things turn violent.

“Tuesday the 17^th” is an odd piece about a group of friends being killed off by a killer who is all blurry. This is the section that is not POV.

Yawn……

“The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” is a piece that is about a couple that is using Skype to talk to each other. The girl is having strange things happen at her apartment and has a weird bruise. The boyfriend pretends that he cares but he knows what’s really going on.

“10/31/98” is about a group of guys and their experience in a haunted house.

"I like you"