The first stab at horror anthology V/H/S is only just arriving on these shores, and is in cinemas on Friday. But the sequel, S-VHS, has already been filmed, collected, edited and will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. The trailer is available above.
Shot as though using the late ‘80s format, the various mini-movies feature a bevy of writing and directing talents behind the camera, including The Raid’s Gareth Evans and Hobo With A Shotgun’s Jason Eisener. They’re joining the returning likes of Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard.
There’s a similar framing device this time, with a load of footage being discovered. But the Sundance synopsis does a much better job of being creepy: “Inside a darkened house looms a column of TVs littered with VHS tapes, a pagan shrine to forgotten analog gods. The screens crackle and pop endlessly with monochrome vistas of static—white noise permeating the brain and fogging concentration. But you must fight the urge to relax: this is no mere movie night. Those obsolete spools contain more than just magnetic tape. They are imprinted with the very soul of evil.”
It all sounds a little like that old tape of Double Impact that hangs around Empire Towers and threatens anyone that dares go near it.
S-VHS doesn’t have a distribution deal yet, but we’d expect that to change during the festival. Sundance starts this weekend, and our Damon Wise will be there covering the whole thing.
