I don’t get it! How the hell does a company like Camp Motion Pictures manage to get someone like myself into such low budget, shot on VHS horror films from the eighties. I mean I get a lot of crap sent to me from filmmakers from all over the world, but then I get a campy gem from the eighties. Films that look more fake than anything, but the stories are just so dam good, that I can’t help but watch them. Such is the case with Camp Motions Pictures release of these films; Video Violence & Video Violence 2. Both films are together on DVD.
Now these kind of films are not for everyone, there is however a rare breed of people out there who actually enjoy campy b-movies. Most of the time I don’t but there are a select few, such as this one that I do enjoy. Sometimes you just have to love a movie that’s sometimes so bad it’s good. However in the case of video violence where the production value is not top notch, the storyline in what makes this film what it is.
Both films follow that of the same killers and kind of intertwine one right after the other. The first film starts off with out of town couple, Steve and Rachel. Both of them are new to the small town. Steve has just opened up a video store in town. One day a mysterious video shows up at the store. Steve and his employee decide to take a look at what’s on the tape. What they find out is that on the tape is a the newly retired post master getting killed by two guys named Eli and Howard. Not knowing what to think about the tape, they decide to take it to the police whom seen to just blow it off, but when more and more video’s start showing up at the store, Steve soon realizes that Eli and Howard are out there killing anyone in the town that they can get their hands on. In the second film Eli and Steve take their basement torture show to the public airways by pirating a local cable channel. With the help of fans they try to create the most disturbing show ever. A show that includes torturing a beautiful unaware guest actor on their show.
While I found the first film to be slightly better than the second one, I enjoyed both a lot. There is something about that old school VHS look that reminds me of the student films I made in High School and College back in the early nineties. The transfers from the original tapes to DVD look pretty good, although sometimes you can see the rainbow color of the control track come across the picture which is usually associated with deck to deck editing.
When it comes to rating both the films in terms of acting and script, with films like this you really can’t judge these kind of things, because it’s not going to be good at all. However Video Violence is a lot better in terms of these things compared to the other films that Camp Motion Pictures has released. The special effects in the film are actually pretty good for it’s time. I mean they look fake but, for a low budget film such as both of these films, their not half bad and are for the most part what make the film entertaining. I especially liked the scene in the deli when they slice up an arm on a meat slicer and it looks like Bologna.
Overall, if your into campy, ultra low budget, direct to video b-movies from the eighties, Video Violence and Video Violence 2 are a must have for your DVD collection. They are the films that helped dawn the direct to video independent horror scene of today. And in case your wondering not only are both films jammed packed with cheesy gore, but they also have some nudity in them as well. So if films like this are what you crave, then you’ll love both Video Violence films.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
