The film is presented as an anthology of short horror films which are linked by the concept of found footage. A group of petty criminals videotape their exploits and selling the resultant footage online as reality porn. When they are hired by an anonymous third party to retrieve a tape with some rare found footage from a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, they eagerly lap up the offer in exchange for a large sum of money.
So they break into the house, they find the sole occupant- an old man- dead in front of a bunch of television sets playing white noise. When they start exploring the house, the criminals quickly discover hordes of unmarked VHS tapes and start collecting them all to make sure they retrieve the right one. Meanwhile, one of the them stays behind in the room with the old man's body and starts to watch the VHS tape left in the VCR. The contents of the tape and subsequent videos put into the player comprise the bulk of the film and this is when the fun begins. Each video they watch is stranger than the last and will surely cause great pleasure to any horror movie buff. Each tape they watch is a short film by a different horror director.
When I heard that this movie had been screened at the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival, I hoped it would be worth it. But then when I read that two people (one was man!) fainted during the screening I said a little secret prayer to myself hoping it would be EPIC. Read more about the incident here.
I just read that a sequel which is being called S-VHS is already on its way and will be out in 2013! The lineup of directors of the sequel is pretty impressive as it consists of horror movie masters including the likes of Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project), Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun), Adam Wingard (You're Next) and many more. Lets wait for this one and hope its badder, bigger and weirder than the first!
As I watched the trailer just now, I felt a surge of endorphin induced goosebumps and an immense desire to watch it again! Oh, and by the way, to add to the fun, I watched this movie all alone at home, way past midnight ;) You should do the same!