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So, VHS 99 is apparently coming out this year in October on Shudder. We had VHS 94 last year. Preceded by VHSes 1-3. In addition to sporting a horrific title to try writing or googling on mobile (feel free to ignore the slashes in this thread), this series features some of the best, worst, and most mediocre interpretations of the found footage genre. The first VHS, in spite of production supposedly consisting of “just make a found footage short and we’ll include it,” wound up having a pretty strong through-line of being about misogyny, though it’s debatable whether this was about subversion or assertion of misogynistic tropes. The overarching story is barely there, basically about a group of awful dudes who film their awful actions receiving a brutal comeuppance. The various shorts are implied to be haunted or evil vhs tapes. The second VHS is far more about spectacle and playing to the audience. It is both a crowd pleaser and a crowd hater. It is actually one of my favorite horror movies to watch in a group for this reason. But it’s a far less grimy film than the first, and less thematic. The overarching story is about a dude who becomes obsessed with these evil vhs tapes who watches them obsessively in the hopes of creating his own. This is about a decade ahead of its time, as gore videos have gained a large following through YouTube commentators on them. The third VHS is about budget fuckups, and a disagreement with a director that cuts out an entire short from the final film, leaving it feeling way too brief. There’s almost no playing with found footage as a concept in this, including a short that blatantly breaks the rules of who should be holding a camera. A lot of people think this one’s frame story is the worst of the series but I kind of think it’s the best one. The implication is that people all trying to chase viral stardom through gore videos are actually infecting humanity with the memetic virus of nihilism. Completely unrealistic take for those of us living in 2022, yes? Then, nearly a decade later, VHS 94 shows up. Another series of uneven shorts, but generally well regarded. I don’t know whether there was guidance for the various shorts, but there is a definite running theme of “gently caress the police and the state” running through the frame story and most of the shorts. We also have an interesting shift in timeline. The OVHST (original v/h/s trilogy) was all about contemporary found footage; Ironically all videos that were very unlikely to actually be recorded on a VHS tape. 94 and 99 actually work to fit in the timeline of VHS tapes, although the aesthetics of 94 are mostly not going for retro. Retro is expensive, it costs money. Money is anathema to found footage. So we have 99 coming out. We have the OVHST. We have 99. A prequel I guess? Reboot? Someone asking why the vhs movies all take place well after vhs cassettes were used? An appeal to nostalgia? A reflection of the desire to dig into the past that hosed us rather than the future we must figure out? A hope deconstruct the now through the past? Maybe! This is a thread to discuss V/H/S movies past and present. Hell, you can even discuss its contemporaries, like the ABCs of death or The Dark Tapes. Have fun! Long live found footage.
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Aug 24, 2022 03:22
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My take had always been the unreasonableness about male fears about women compared to women's fears about men. Amateur Night (A literal Succubus castrates men) Second Honeymoon (Two lesbians plot to kill a man) 10/31/98 (A supposed female victim is ACTUALLY the bad person) vs The Sick Thing that Happened to Emily When She Was Younger (Man gaslights woman) Tuesday the 17th (A woman tries to murder a monster, but discovers the whole world and reality revolves around him) The framing story constantly showing how women are used by men I love OG V/H/S, I think it's a coherent masterpiece. The other films are fine. '94 is probably better on Paper than 2, but I just wish it wasn't so cheap at times.
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Aug 24, 2022 04:17
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VHS Viral sucked because they managed to take the concept of "What if a magician was doing real magic, also he's evil and has a magic fight with his assistant and a SWAT team" and made it boring. Could have gone comedy or could have gone dark. I'd actually agree that I think it had the most interesting framing device even if the execution left something to be desired. I also think going longer for the films and pacing hurt them. One of the little benefits of 1 and 2 was that if you weren't feeling the short it'd probably be over pretty soon.
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Aug 24, 2022 04:18
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Timeless Appeal posted:My take had always been the unreasonableness about male fears about women compared to women's fears about men. That’s a really good way to look at it. As far as I can tell, all of the shorts were directed by dudes. So it’s all male perspectives in that aspect. And as had been talked about on this forum, the smaller the project the larger an authorial voice you can get from the director. And even with the male fears shorts it’s about men receiving a somewhat to heavily deserved comeuppance. From condescension to the same kind of intended sexual assault from the frame story. We men in the audience are also implicated. Im in agreement that 1 is the most coherent by far.
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Aug 24, 2022 04:26
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Parakeet vs. Phone posted:VHS Viral sucked because they managed to take the concept of "What if a magician was doing real magic, also he's evil and has a magic fight with his assistant and a SWAT team" and made it boring. Could have gone comedy or could have gone dark. They may have gone longer simply due to them having to completely cut the other short. Apparently it was basically a music video. I’d love a cut with it included, flawed or not.
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Aug 24, 2022 04:27
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I've never been too big on the VHS films because they feel like they revel a little too honestly in throwback misogyny. I can't remember which one it was that had the triple split-screen of a woman getting her shirt torn off during a sexual assault, but it was timed to the beat of the credits music and freeze-framed on the moment her breasts were exposed. I liked Amateur Night because the actress was loving skin-crawlingly fantastic. She was all the right kinds of off. Also enjoyed The Empty Wake in concept, even if it was a little too clearly telegraphed how the lead would get got. It would be a fantastic indie horror game (and I mean that as praise) with excellent mood. I did noticed some particularly bad acting in the framing sequence for VHS 94. I don't remember it being that egregious in previous installments but to be fair, VHS and VHS 94 are the only ones I've seen twice and the rest are a little fuzzy.
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Aug 24, 2022 05:14
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They’re all really bad imho
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Aug 24, 2022 05:14
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It’s worth keeping in mind that for Ll of the frame segments but 2 they are acting for the camera. We are seeing people try to present something to an audience even though they are flawed and/or corrupted. That is the interesting part. Everything we see is a self conscious performance for a camera. That is the core of found footage. At all times it is always self conscious. It it always performance. Nothing is purely spontaneous, and in that performance we learn so much. Found footage is about learning through performance rather than learning through reality. The worst FF films pretend the camera isn’t there. The mediocre acknowledge it. The best just quietly alter their behavior.
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Aug 24, 2022 05:33
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Found footage is about self consciousness. Introspection. It can Never truly be meta
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Aug 24, 2022 05:34
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Viral’s the only one where I don’t think I can recommend even one segment of 1 has Tuesday the 17th 2 has Ride in the Park and Safe Haven 94 has Storm Drain and The Subject I’m excited for 99, I’m eager to see what stories Johannes Roberts and Flying Lotus in particular provide
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Aug 24, 2022 09:19
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Viral has bonestorm which slaps so hard. Echoing the thoughts on 1, it's pretty neat that it all came together as a "dudes are terrible" flick by coincidence. 2 has some of the best highs, Safe Haven and Slumber Party Alien Abduction are just incredible shorts. Wasn't a huge fan of clinical trials but it's a neat concept. The wraparound story has the best gag in the whole series. I really dug vhs94 but it doesn't do enough overall with the 90s aesthetic and should have felt more like shot on video cinema at times. Terror is the closest it gets. That said Storm Drain has Ratma which owns and The Subject is a fun Tetsuo riff. I'm so ready for 99
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Aug 24, 2022 15:32
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Bonestorm and Safe Haven might be the best of the series, but I was pleasantly surprised by VHS 94MacheteZombie posted:The wraparound story has the best gag in the whole series. 
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Aug 25, 2022 01:55
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I enjoyed 94 in spite of the wraparound, but it unfortunately started with Ratma and never got back up to that high point. Like how do you not close out with Ratma?
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Aug 25, 2022 03:14
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I really, really like Parallel Monsters and think Bonestorm is just okay.
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Aug 25, 2022 03:20
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Im pretty sure I only saw 1 and 2 but much like The Poughkeepsie Tapes (which is maybe half found footage) its just much better in concept than execution and overall hugely disappointing. I think the only segments I legit liked are the Lesbian Killers one and the demon in the Asian monastery or whatever it was. The connection between the diff segments is another half assed aspect. (A guy wants some tapes!! ok...) I like found footage but ive never found anything that i feel does it any decent service. Maybe enough time has passed that ill give it another try.
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Aug 25, 2022 08:42
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Timeless Appeal posted:I really, really like Parallel Monsters and think Bonestorm is just okay. Parallel Monsters is a Rick and Morty bit played straight. This is somehow not a criticism
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Aug 26, 2022 16:28
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Parallel Monsters is the one that's lost some punch when I've rewatched the segments, but I also like the magician one so what do I know.
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Aug 26, 2022 17:04
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Parallel Monsters is a Rick and Morty bit played straight. That's actually about perfect. I don't think it quite lands but I liked what it wanted to do. Also I heard a podcast describe the reveal of the monsters as the short turning into Fraggle Cock, so that's boosted it in my memory.
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Aug 26, 2022 18:25
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MacheteZombie posted:The Subject is a fun Tetsuo riff. That and I’m pretty sure only naming the character as S.A. is a Samus Aran reference considering she gets a cannon arm
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Aug 27, 2022 04:41
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I need to go back and look at the story names because I have a really poor memory for them (they're never actually called them in the films, right?) so I forget what's called what. I generally enjoyed all of them but I remember Viral being less good. I enjoyed the Succubus, haunted house/possession, Bonestorm, death cult, alien abduction (this subject has freaked me out since I was a kid watching Unsolved Mysteries), the portal one and the cyborg FPS ones the most. Oh, Raatma owned too. I don't expect much going into anthology films so I tend to come away happy that I've seen some variety. I've only really seen the VHS series, are there any others I need to see? Like does Trick r Treat count? I love that.
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Aug 28, 2022 23:59
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Olympic Mathlete posted:I need to go back and look at the story names because I have a really poor memory for them (they're never actually called them in the films, right?) so I forget what's called what. I generally enjoyed all of them but I remember Viral being less good. Trick r treat definitely counts. Tales from the Hood is one of the best horror anthologies.
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Aug 29, 2022 00:46
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Tales from the Hood scared the poo poo out of me
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Aug 29, 2022 00:49
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Scare Me is an interesting recent take on anthology film that's kinda not an anthology film, but is good I have nostalgia for Creepshow and Cat's Eye
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Aug 29, 2022 01:01
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If you want to feel like VHS 3 is a masterwork of found footage anthology horror by comparison. watch The Dark Tapes.
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Aug 29, 2022 01:09
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Real answer: Dead of Night (1945) is one of the best horror anthologies ever. Great frame story, interesting psychodramas, really fun effects including a genuinely eerie one, and the novelty of being one of the only horror movies that was allowed to be made in Britain during WWII.
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Aug 29, 2022 01:14
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For a recent semi-horror anthology, I would like to recommend The House. Extremely good stop-motion and very British.
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Aug 29, 2022 03:36
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The last VHS was so bad that I'm surprised to see so many people seemed to like it. I enjoyed Ratma because of how enjoyably goofy it is (though sometimes these things start to feel like they're made for the memes), but near enough everything else didn't work for me. I actually just had to look it up because I didn't remember the other segments and Simon Barrett's funeral home story is another good one.
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Aug 30, 2022 16:04
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Since the recurring misogyny theme has been mentioned a few times, I have a bit of an anecdote regarding the creator's comments on that element. Several of my friends had worked with Adam Wingard on some early projects, so I got to go with them to an early screening of the first anthology. The producers, Wingard, and one other director (I forget for which segment) were present and held a Q&A, during which an audience member asked them why misogyny was such a recurring element. The producers claimed that element was being imagined and there was no such intended theme (Which... huh? Maybe it was not intentional but how do you not recognize its presence in the final collection?). One of the directors said it hadn't been a conscious element for him, and only Wingard really owned it. His take was that it had been a common element in many found footage shorts he'd seen and he wanted to turn tables a bit and make a group of misogynistic predators victims for a change. He found making the predatory cameramen into the prey somewhat cathartic after being frustrated at how often such a promising sub-genre wound up taking a lot of perverse pleasure in depicting objectification of and violence against women. Heavily paraphrased because it's been many years, but some might find it interesting. On a separate note, I think my favorite "found footage shorts" are the recorded memories in Strange Days. I know it strains the definition, but if The Subject qualifies, I think the cold open of that film should too.
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Sep 7, 2022 08:27
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I liked every VHS film. Each one has at least one or two segments to make the film worthwhile. Even when I don't vibe with a certain segment, I'm content bc i know it'll end soon. I looked them up yesterday and was sad to see none of the early entries are readily streaming. With my above measure of quality, I can recommend two recent horror anthologies: XX and Holidays. XX is entirely directed by women, with stories focusing on women. I enjoyed the last bit most, with a mother coming to terms about what's wrong with her son and what he's turning into. And there's one lighthearted short that is darkly funny. Holidays' gimmick is a horror short each about a different holiday. What sticks with me is the short surreal St Paddy's Day folk horror bit with an evil snake and a very sinister looking kid. And the Father's Day bit which has long unsettling narration by Michael Gross. Elsewhere, when monsters show up they're pretty on point.
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Sep 8, 2022 05:26
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This might be a dumb question but I got a TERFy vibe from XX, is that the case or am I just seeing things?
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Sep 8, 2022 10:03
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Coffee And Pie posted:This might be a dumb question but I got a TERFy vibe from XX, is that the case or am I just seeing things? I guess it does have kind of a surprisingly traditional/limited focus for the loose concept of women's horror. 3 out of the 4 stories are about being a mom (in very different ways) and the 4th is a weird filler one that doesn't really fit anyway. But nothing that I remember really jumps out as TERFy. To be honest, the series didn't seem to have much to say at all. Other than just featuring all female directors. Which is kind of fine, but the bigger issue is that it's just kind of boring, which is really bad for short films. There are a few neat ideas but the only one that felt like it hit right was The Birthday Party one. The 4th one might have hit better if I had more nostalgia for Rosemary's Baby. The Box is an alright idea but it drags after the initial creepiness and I was ready for it to end. Although to be fair, 1 good segment, 2 interesting but flawed segments and 1 bad one isn't a bad average.
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Sep 8, 2022 12:06
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Parakeet vs. Phone posted:
The wraparound is pretty decent too iirc.
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Sep 8, 2022 12:32
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Can't fuckin wait for VHS99, if its anything as good as VHS94 was (or the first VHS). Really I like them all though.
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Oct 14, 2022 20:21
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Coffee And Pie posted:This might be a dumb question but I got a TERFy vibe from XX, is that the case or am I just seeing things?
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Oct 14, 2022 20:53
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I thought VHS 94 had the worst wraparound - the acting & dialogue were high school theater levels of bad. That stood out to me far more than the actual plot. I enjoyed most of the rest of the segments though. The one with the domestic terrorist compound using a highly flammable vampire as a bomb is such a clever concept I can't believe I've never seen someone do it before. I never saw SiREN, the spinoff based on Amateur Night with the same actress, but the trailer looked kinda bad and it isn't found footage. Is it any good, or does it ruin the fun? ProperCoochie posted:Holidays' gimmick is a horror short each about a different holiday. What sticks with me is the short surreal St Paddy's Day folk horror bit with an evil snake and a very sinister looking kid. And the Father's Day bit which has long unsettling narration by Michael Gross. Elsewhere, when monsters show up they're pretty on point.
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Oct 25, 2022 10:37
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I saw VHS Viral for the first time and the skateboarder segment's set-up and payoff were outrageously mismatched. The set-up was good! Hired cameraman is filming skateboarders while trying to encourage a grisly accident so he can sell it as snuff. That's an idea that could potentially support a whole film a la My Little Eye or something like Creep. The dramatic irony of him telling them he didn't catch a dangerous stunt we see him film is nicely off-putting and initially makes you question whether he's incompetent or malicious. The Faces of Death reference was way too on-the-nose, but okay, it's a short and we gotta get there quick. All you need to do is either follow through with the set-up or... Twist! The camera man accidentally films his own death! Simple and satisfying either way. But then Mexican monster cult are brought in to do it. Why did you need magic in this story.
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Oct 25, 2022 12:39
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Das Boo posted:I saw VHS Viral for the first time and the skateboarder segment's set-up and payoff were outrageously mismatched. The set-up was good! Hired cameraman is filming skateboarders while trying to encourage a grisly accident so he can sell it as snuff. That's an idea that could potentially support a whole film a la My Little Eye or something like Creep. The dramatic irony of him telling them he didn't catch a dangerous stunt we see him film is nicely off-putting and initially makes you question whether he's incompetent or malicious. The Faces of Death reference was way too on-the-nose, but okay, it's a short and we gotta get there quick. All you need to do is either follow through with the set-up or... Twist! The camera man accidentally films his own death! Simple and satisfying either way. Because the skeleton wizards whip rear end and they magically came directly off the bottom of a skateboard
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Oct 25, 2022 17:23
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Bonk posted:I never saw SiREN, the spinoff based on Amateur Night with the same actress, but the trailer looked kinda bad and it isn't found footage. Is it any good, or does it ruin the fun? I thought it was meh, but also I thought it was better than the short
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Oct 25, 2022 20:59
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Just got around to watching 99. I gotta give them props for how intensely 90s it felt in style, especially the first story. Overall I found it to be solidly alright, though it didn't really have any standout stories like the others did. The second story had some genuinely unnerving parts, though it didn't really manage to stick the landing. On the whole this one felt a little more mundane, more focused on people being horrible to another with the supernatural elements being more of a catalyst. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, mind. Also it seems they finally realised that nobody really cares about the wrapper stories and just had some fun with it instead. Aside from that, I'm getting a bit annoyed by just how many of stories in the overall series seem to boil down to "Oh it's just the walking dead again". Cool it with the drat zombies already.
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Oct 26, 2022 13:49
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Bonk posted:The one with the domestic terrorist compound using a highly flammable vampire as a bomb is such a clever concept I can't believe I've never seen someone do it before. This might be one of my favorite VHS shorts, particularly in how it slowly doles out information and also feels genuinely found-footagey in a way that a lot of the others don't.
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Oct 26, 2022 20:52
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