VLC 2.2.2 and OS X El Capitan Issue
I run into similar issues with VLC and it's not limited to OS X.  Fortunately you have a couple of options...

Roll back VLC

Uninstall VLC completely and install an "archived" version.  Go to ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/ and select the version you want to download.  If you need a good reliable app to cleanly remove applications, check out AppCleaner

When you find the version you want, navigate into the macosx directory (I am using the 2.1.1 directory for this example)



Get something else

Have a look at Elmedia Player.  It's free on the Apple App Store.  I personally went this route because I started "falling out of like" with VLC.  There's a bunch of features on it that just don't work and I needed to go with other solutions.