VHS Violence: Bootlegged

Several stories told from recovered footage highlighted by several indie directors.

The Good Stor(ies): Tape 1-On a road trip to Las Vegas, a woman finds that an experience involving a homeless man sets her off on a dark path she may not be safe from. Overall, this was a great way to get this film started. The first part being all travelog shots with her and her friends hanging out on the trip gives this a solid start to work with once the change occurs following the encounter at the abandoned building which has a great atmosphere crawling through the decayed ruins. The change itself is a bit too quick and has little context as we're out of the loop given the found-footage format but the gruesomeness is enough to offset this factor to start the film.

Tape 2-Taking a hiking trip through England, a man making a video for his family finds that a local story might be coming true when he meets a strange woman. This was a rather fun time here. Again employing the travelog footage of his trip vlogging everything which sets the first stages of the fun here as the initial story is quite chilling and sets it up rather nicely. The arrival at the farm while he's lost makes for a fun play on those factors as the found-footage setup has some strong touches that give a fantastic payoff with a twist that does get a little underwhelming due to being the part that shouldn't have been filmed normally but that's about all that holds it back.

The Bad Stor(ies): Tape 3-Trying to hang out with her sister, a girl joins her and her friends when they decide to hang out together only for deep-seated resentments to distract them from a serial killer. This was a bit of a disappointment even though it does have some likable qualities. The family relationship at the center of this isn't too bad focusing on the relatable idea of hanging out with a cool older sibling that they have to keep up with while they go through their normal routine of hanging out together. This just comes undone with tons of grainy footage of the group yakking with each other instead of anything creepy happening so that there's little build-up to the trucker or his purpose despite his actions toward them that could've been fun.

Tape 4-Undergoing a secret mission, a woman trying to stay calm while in the backseat of a traveling car soon learns the shady truth about her abductor and his plans for her. This was another disappointment even though it also has some really likable features. The whole idea of the woman being unable to move as she is suddenly thrust into the situation and being unable to figure out what's going on with the lack of information adds a creepy feel to this only to be undone by the extended amount of time featuring nothing going on. It's all pretty much just her in the car not being able to get out that keeps this feeling repetitive for something so short, but the brutal finish does save it somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

This four-part anthology was four times as terrible as I expected. Shot mostly on what looked like an iPhone, for some reason, this modern-day found footage movie has a VHS static filter messing with the video quality throughout the whole thing. 70% of this anthology was people talking nonsense to the camera and the other 30% was just footage of nothing. At one point, the screen is black for ten minutes straight with a lot of filler for the end credits with the embarrassment of people's names credited in this dribble. Utter nonsense delivered on a plate.

I have beef with Tubi for recommending this to me.

I dare Dustin Ferguson to make a different movie, every single one is the same. Random compilation of the worst YouTube videos you've seen in your life. All they had was an iPhone 6, some weed and some red food dye to create something out of this nonsense. Found footage movies are easily the most hit or miss and this was a giant miss. Boring stories and characters who were just trying their best by the actors but unfortunately if a series of bad directors are involved it's obviously going to be a hard no from all around. I would probably avoid this like the plague and let everybody live their normal lives out on the field.