1 out of 5

Directed by: Sam T McNally, Biff3D‬, Jame Howell, LateNight99‬

In the comments for the latest entry in their Youtube horror film series, latenight.99 commented that they’d incorporated viewer feedback from D/V/D-Redacted and U/S/B to deliver the best possible threequel in V/C/R. …From which I must conclude that I have significantly different tastes from those offering feedback.

This is still an incredibly impressive feat for a free (given internet / Youtube access), no-budget offering; and while I think the VHS format is fetishized a bit – I’m maybe older than the filmmakers, so it feels a bit too retro in its representation at points – I respect the precedent set by the previous entries of circulating through mediums, and that the latenight.99 team “justified” its use by dating the content of the vids to the 90s. But: woof. Woof: that V/C/R ended up being comprised of the bits I found humdrum in the prior entries, plus bad habits from the world of FF in general, such that I firstly didn’t feel the spark of creativity from this one that I did before, and secondly – more affecting – it just wasn’t very interesting, stripping out almost any character, both, like, in terms of actual characters I cared about, and then the character of the movie itself.

That all sounds extremely harsh, but I’d rewind (no pun intended) to my acknowledgment that I must just have different tastes from the intended audience: I felt the sincerity of the project – by definition of it being so DIY, it cannot be a cash grab, or “lazy” – but the execution / final product was, for me, lacking.

The frame used for this go-round is that of some work-for-hire types presumably hired by PORT to collect VHS tapes in the wild. But internal squabbles amongst this small crew results in them sitting down to watch some recently procured tapes…

Every single one of which suffers from a glaring problem: they’re constructed with the expectation that you’re interested. Meaning that the segments don’t really hold inherent interest; only because you’re watching V/C/R and you believe there’s a scare coming will you keep watching. A great example of this is a segment where someone follows some tracks in the grass for several minutes until they come across a strange device. The device is not uninteresting in and of itself, but it’s use within the segment only really holds relevance when considered alongside one of the entries from D/V/D-Redacted (which apparently wasn’t necessarily intended, which makes that relevance pretty funny); furthermore, the unseen character’s reaction in the video to the device doesn’t really make any sense, nor does the PORT-er watching the vid when we return to him.

The final entry (concerning a cult investigation in the woods) is closest to a segment that feels fully fleshed out, and retains some of the organic vibes of the first two entries; however, it’s also when we veer into stuff that is of the most generic FF territory, iterating off of well-explored Blair Witchisms.

On top of all of this: the excessive camera effects are a choice, but I tire of the distortion-as-a-way-to-suggest-the-supernatural bit, and the poopy sound, while “real,” is… also a choice. This is where the retro shtick feels a bit too slavishly layered on; I made some pretty okay quality VHS movies back in the days that were before the years depicted here.

Lastly, it’s lame to point out, but the acting can be rough. I think there are ways to lean into this as part of the aforementioned organicness, but a couple key roles required a bit less pantomime to be convincing, and it further undermined the positives I was trying to hang on to.