V/H/S/Beyond, 2024.
Directed by Jay Cheel/Jordan Downey/Christian Long/Justin Long/Justin Martinez/Virat Pal/Kate Siegel.
Starring Brian Baker, Trevor Dow, Alan Maxson, Mitch Horowitz, and James C. Burns.
SYNOPSIS:
The found footage anthology returns with a bit of a sci-fi twist.
We are now up to the seventh instalment of the V/H/S franchise, and over the past three the filmmakers have sent the series down a year-specific route, giving us several found footage shorts set in 1985, 1994 and 1999, so where have they taken us now?
Um… not sure, because this time round we are going beyond. Beyond what isn’t really clear, but the idea is that each of the segments has a bit of a sci-fi or cosmic element to add to the horrors, so that immediately conjures up images of aliens and Lovecraftian beings entering our world. Do we get that? Well, there is a tight budget, you know…
Anyway, first out of the gate is Stork and it is a very strong start. Directed by Jordan Downey – who last directed the fantastic medieval fantasy horror The Head Hunter back in 2018 – Stork sees a special unit of police officers investigating the disappearance of several babies. They go tooled up to an abandoned house where they find an army of brainless (literally) zombie-like creatures, some of the missing children and a particularly nasty surprise waiting for them once they’ve cleared each floor.
Basically a live-action first-person shooter, Stork is fantastic fun from start to finish, as we are introduced to the ragtag team of cops – who are, naturally, all on the edge, don’t play by the rules, etc. – and the rookie who is filming, to the walkthrough of the house and the nasties that inhabit it. The effects are very good and fit the video game aesthetic, and there is more than a whiff of Resident Evil – game and movie – about the whole thing, but whilst the end-of-level-boss character should be a little goofy – it’s the title of the short, so no huge surprises really – the inversion of the traditional role of the creature is actually very creepy. Plus, where else have you seen a POV chainsaw kill done this well?
Next up is Virat Pal’s Dream Girl, where we head to Mumbai to follow two tabloid reporters trying to get access to India’s biggest Bollywood star on the set of her latest movie. However, when one of them tries a sneaky tactic to get up close and personal he gets more than he bargained for, as he discovers that her fame is not the only mask she has to wear.
Pretty sure there is a commentary about the price of fame, false adoration and the loss of one’s humanity with Dream Girl, but social commentary is not really what we are here for and this short wastes no time in getting to the good stuff. Lots of gore, violence and black humour, Dream Girl is another fun and kinetic piece that utilises the found footage format perfectly and doesn’t dither about with having to explain very much.
Up to the skies next with Live and Let Dive, although we haven’t gone to the stars just yet. Directed by Justin Martinez, who contributed shorts to the original V/H/S and Southbound, this one sees a plane full of skydivers up in the air and about to take a jump, but an alien invasion causes an in-air accident, making them all leave the burning plane before they were ready. Landing in an orange grove, those who survived the fall are picked off by the weird aliens that attacked them in the air.
Perhaps spending a little too long on the plane before the crash, once Live and Let Dive goes into freefall it really makes good use of the body cams that the parachutists are wearing. The skydiving itself is executed brilliantly and once our crew are in the trees below the alien creatures are excellently rendered in CGI, showing how far low budget computer effects have come in the past few years.
Well, that’s three for three so far, but can Fur Babies – directed by Christian and Justin Long (yes, THAT Justin Long) keep up the momentum? Not really, it must be said, although it isn’t bad, as animal rights activists go undercover and infiltrate a doggy daycare centre in order to expose the mistreatment of the animals. However, the woman who owns the centre is a little cannier than they think, and the group uncover more than they bargained for when they go into the basement.
There is an element of fun to this one, but it doesn’t feel quite as energetic or horrific as anything we have seen so far. The effects are decent and the concept is solid, but trying to cram in the main plots of Curse of the Fly and The Fly II but with dogs into 20-odd minutes on a limited budget is a tall order for anybody to pull off. It works to a degree, but a full movie with a bigger budget might be the key to making it work better.
Written by Mike Flanagan, Stowaway is the final full segment and marks the directorial debut of actress Kate Siegel. Here, a woman witnesses an alien spacecraft crash in the Mojave Desert and goes to investigate, ending up as a passenger on a flight she did not book with a travel agent.
Despite the pedigree behind the camera, Stowaway was the least interesting of all the shorts, fusing night vision visuals and the kind of TV investigation show-style of filmmaking that produces a few cheap jump scares, but not a lot else to focus on because the image is too dark or blurry. The point of it is very clear, but Stowaway displays all the frustrating aspects of found footage and feels like a bit of a DTV cheapie from the early 2000s, i.e. nothing much happens and when it does, you can’t make it out amongst the screaming and shaking of the camera.
Naturally, there is a wraparound story. This one is called Abduction/Adduction by director Jay Cheel and is basically a talking heads piece from real life experts about alien encounters. Of course, there has to be a proper V/H/S-style ending rather than just experts talking, and there is, but the banter between the shorts is a little grating for the most part, although the final shot is worth waiting for.
So, another year, another V/H/S anthology, but V/H/S/Beyond can quite legitimately claim to be in the top two of the franchise, alongside the excellent V/H/S/94. With only one real duffer and a not-very-exciting wraparound, the other four segments are strong enough to carry the enjoyment factor, so the weakest section doesn’t bring the whole experience down, and it is left until the end anyway, although if you do switch off before you get there you don’t get to see the brilliant final shot. Either way, V/H/S/Beyond is a fun time and restores hope to the franchise after the dire V/H/S/85 and the average V/H/S/99.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
