House of VHS

The only real positive thing I can point out about this film is that at least it's over before you hit the 90-minute mark. The boilerplate stuff for this genre (character intro, trip to the location, irrelevant grab-assing) that other films move on from at about the 20- to 25-minute mark extend through about 45-50 minutes. Seriously, you really don't have anything that resembles a functioning story up to and including that point.. By the time the story actually seems to be advancing a little at about the 60- to 65-minute mark, through the ridiculous ending, you just really don't care anymore. You're certainly not invested in any of the characters so you're not concerned with what becomes of them, which pretty much eliminates any suspense. I end up watching a lot of bad horror because I'm looking for a few gems. I don't expect them to be masterpieces. Just give me a decent twist or competent performances. Maybe a fresh take on an old story. I can honestly say that I can't remember a worse horror film that didn't include heavy doses of shooting day for night.

Despite the fact of never having heard about the 2023 horror movie "House of VHS" (aka "Ghosts in the Machine"), as I stumbled upon it here in 2025, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance. After all, I am a huge fan of all things horror. But truth be told, I was not really harboring any expectations to the movie.

The script and storyline was slow paced, uneventful and downright boring. I had to stop the movie twice, go do something else and then return to watch more, because I was getting bored senseless with the monotonous and pointless narrative.

I was not familiar with the actors and actresses on the cast list. And while it was certainly not outstanding acting performances, I will say that the performances were fair, taking into consideration the limitations imposed upon the cast by an inferior script.

Visually, then you're not in for anything grand.

If you enjoy horror movies, you should not waste 83 minutes of your life on this dumpster fire. Some of us suffered through this movie, literally, so you don't have to; you're very welcome.

My rating of writer and director Gautier Cazenave's 2023 movie "House of VHS" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

I don't know why this film was made or who was responsible for developing the plot, but it is a travesty. Riddled with inane and unconvincing dialogue and characters, it is difficult to work out what it hoped to achieve unless it was to take the thing least likely to be haunted and prove why it achieved that status.

I spent half the film thinking the American / Icelandic Guy was the French Guy, and vice versa, but concluded that the nationalities were ascribed as a tribute to Reservoir Dogs. There was no suggestion that the characters' behaviour was due to nationality; rather, it was to save giving them names.

As far as temporary suspension of disbelief goes, the characters did better than I did. A group of six students go to squat in a French country house for a week, but apparently took no food or water. One character tried to stay in contact with his parents for no obvious reason, then later it is implied that is was not his parents at all but .I had given up trying by then.

To say they were not close friends would be an understatement. I am not sure how many had actually met before, but nobody knew what nationality the Belgian was except the Belgian, while the American was revealed early on (too early for this to be a spoiler) to be Icelandic but it did not affect the plot in any way and he is still listed in the credits as American.

Abysmal use of light and dark, some scenes almost unwatchable due to colour saturation. The plot is thin and extraordinarily contrived. One character leaves and returns at random, as if to prove the house is nowhere near as isolated as the plot suggests. Huge continuity failures - everybody is enthralled bybthe story if VHS and the discovery that the player and TV work, yet it is several hours before they watch anything; the Australian Guy seems intellectually challenged, judging by the time he spends picking up tapes, glancing st titles and putting them down again.

The clues were there. One actor had, as at July 2020, made three films under three different names. The surname Cazenave appears with three different first names, suggesting a family project rather than a professional production.

The old clips are the most interesting part of the film. If genuine, someone has put in the research well. My reservation is that one credit is given for the designer of a costume in one clip, but one with a cast member in, so clearly made for this film. Kudos to that film buff if they have searched for, and found, all those rarities.