Death by VHS (2013) User Reviews

Well. At least they tried. Ultra low budget mess.

[Jester222 · 2/10 · 22 February 2022]

Theres low budget and then there is non existent budget.

This is somewhere below even that. Ha ha

Yes it's what you'd expect.

Few kids get their parent camcorder, some fake blood from the halloween store and decide theyll make a film.

Lot of people get the idea to do these things thwn lose enthusiasm. So credit to them for actually getting the film finished and I'm sure they had a lot of fun doing it and showing off their mini masterpiece.

They obviously saw the VHS series of films and thought be easier to do short films than tru a full length. The story evolves around a beat up old Video player these two kids buy off a dodgy guy in a ridiculous Slash wig wih an even worse supposed jamaican accent or something. It really is poorly done and I guess for comic effect. But the audience are laughing at rather than with.

The bag if vhs they get have various horror short films on them and make them sicker the more they watch ....... The shorts are totally unoriginal. Zombies taking over, a hideously deformed woman. Buys a beauty serum which makes her 'beautiful' (apart from the acne) but she needs blood to survive. Theres an even worse Krampus style one which is probably the worst of the lot. The Lupus one has Jesus fighting a rabbit. Which has a couple of attractive blondes in it which made me stick with it. But was again bad.

So.

Ultra low home video fun with friends which must have been a blast to make but somehow managed to get out to the public. And I saw it in UK streaming.

I was bored ai gave it a look.

Well done for getting it made. But not sure this is the career for anyone in the film.

Hip Hop? More like Flip Flop.

[genowhirl · 3/10 · 17 December 2022]

Well, that was something. . . . something else. . . .

Quick side note: it is my understanding that this film was written before V/H/S, but V/H/S was produced first. The theme of "dangerous, obscure tapes" is present in both.

You'll notice right away how poor the production value is - shaky camera, high saturation, jump cuts, poor lighting, etc.. Though, the slightly shaky camera actually seems intentional, and almost adds to this films charm. The scripting and acting follow suit, oscillating between absolutely terrible and arguably-decent-enough. But, surprisingly, the MOST glaring issue with this movie is the sound quality and mixing. It is often the case that the music and sound effects will nearly completely drown out the dialogue with an overbearing presence.

That said, the saving grace for this film is the fact the director(s) had, at the very least, definite ideas that they wanted to convey. The result is that it tells a pretty poorly crafted, yet streamlined story. Most of these stories even have a clear theme to their tenuous plots.

This time around we have 4 Tales and a Wraparound. Below are brief Plot Summaries:

Wraparound: The wraparound involves 2 unassuming teens buying seemingly innocuous VHS tapes, and/or some weed, from a local dealer. As they watch the tapes, however, their situation becomes increasingly grim.

Suburban She Freak: Tired of being on the receiving end of the world's cruelty, a gloomy girl with a large boil on her face attempts to circumvent her dilemma through dubious means.

Christmas Krampus: An obviously exasperated mom degrades and berates her mentally challenged son until her callousness comes back to bite her.

Regenerate: Getting by on his girlfriend's disability checks, an abusive boyfriend gets what he deserves when she discovers a miraculous drug.

Lepus: This Halloween night, a small town becomes the target for a serial killer in a bunny suit.

My Review Of Death By VHS

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 5/10 · 19 March 2013]

"Death By VHS" is a new anthology from Indie film maker and horror host Walter Ruether a.k.a. Scarlet Fry. The collection of horror/ gore shorts are unique and creative spins on classic moral tales from twisted minds. A battered VHS and a small bounty of cassettes create a reality unlike any that Ruether has brought to life ever before, from reunions of the undead to a killer Krampus the low budget stories cover it all. Completed by a bizarre and clever wrap around that involves tweekers looking for a better high that is said to come from experiencing the stories captured on the cassettes, "Death By VHS" proves to be Walter Ruether's best work yet.

The stories in this anthology are all cool low budget shorts that are filled with dark humor and plenty of gore. The plots are simple and straight forward moral tales save "Lepus". I don't know what that was but it was so much fun to watch. I felt like I was in some twisted world mixed of 60's acid dream theatre and Adult Swim psychotica. The production value is pretty low in the anthology but the shorts are so much gruesome fun to watch that it doesn't matter. "Death By VHS" is a totally cheap and trashy delight that celebrates everything great about those gory days of VHS. This is by far my favorite of Walter Ruether's films!

Amazing horror old school troma

[chrio1-2 · 10/10 · 16 June 2018]

I loved this movie it was written before Vhs but released after

Tweaker Shirley Dominates in this Unique take on the "infected movie" genre

[suhlerdamon · 7/10 · 15 September 2023]

I enjoyed the overall plot of this film - one of the earlier takes on the "infected movie" genre. Tweaker Shirley delivers a rich, storied performance. Her dedication to the role, her authenticity, well - is stunning. Lloyd Kaufman, director of "Toxic Avenger" mentioned this movie in a podcast several years ago. He highly recommended it, and I'm certainly glad he did. It really is a call-back to the good 'ol days of VHS and low-budget slasher/horror films. This is a vignette-style film and, without providing any spoilers, I can say that each story is well worth the time invested. I personally recommend Tweaker Shirley's performance!!!