V/H/S/Beyond, 2024.
Directed by Jay Cheel, Jordan Downey, Christian Long and Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pal, Kate Siegel.
Starring Trevor Dow, Jolene Anderson, Namrata Sheth, Skip Howland, Libby Letlow, Alanah Pearce.
SYNOPSIS:
Six tales directed and created by different filmmakers make up a sci-fi horror-inspired collection of short films.
The V/H/S/ series has been going for a heck of a long time (since 2012, in fact) and has covered seven films and two spin-off releases as well as a Snapchat-based miniseries of shorts. This latest release from the hardy portmanteau series of chillers has a space horror inspiration. That is, there’s a kind of sci-fi monster sheen to the chaotic goings on.
Ever since the first release, the V/H/S/ team have done a good job in sourcing talent to write and direct the various chapters in the stories, which often have a found footage style about them – hence the V/H/S/ tapes that give the series its title. It is also telling of a love of retro horror that has been in full force for even longer that this series.
As with all the V/H/S/ releases, and portmanteau film in general, this release is a mixed collection. The framing story Abduction/Adduction is presented as a documentary. It also purports to let the audience in on the tricks and effects scammers use. Unfortunately the mocumentary gets it almost too right, and we are left in not part curly exciting cable TV ‘the truth about aliens’ territory.
Next up is ‘Stork’ that plays around with a video-game first person shooter style to some effect, It grates after a while, and it could have been half the length. Perhaps chopped in half, with the admittedly entertaining chainsaw section. The monster is quite a sight too, it’s true, a freaky bird/ant-eater thing. But really, this is just carnage and effects.
Next is the best of the bunch to my mind. Virat Pal’s Dream Girl takes us to Mumbai, where a Bollywood leading lady is rumoured to be a witch. A journalist gets more than he bargained for when trying to uncover the truth. The entertaining song and dance sequences effectively parody Indian film’s hugely popular musical segments, while the catchy lyrics offer clues to the star’s true nature.
Next on the roll call after another interlude – that details the importance of Whitley Streiber’s book Communion, turned into a super-weird and brilliant late 1980s film starring Christopher Walken – is Live and Let Dive. Basically its a sky dive where the divers are intercepted by a UFO. Those that manage to land have to try and stay alive again in the face of gribbly aliens rampaging. It sounds more fun than it is.
Next is another good one, the excellent Misery tinged Fur Babies. Libby Letlow channels Kathy Bates in a bleakly funny effort directed by the Long brothers. Two animal rights protestors go undercover to try and discover the truth about Letlow’s business of ‘Doggy Dreamhouse’, which offers grotesque taxidermy which goes from grim to worse.
The last film follows a UFO enthusiast looking for aliens in the Mojave desert played by Alanah Pierce, bringing frazzled belief to the performance. Unfortunately, the story takes ages to get going and when it does it just fizzles out a bit.
Overall, then it’s a familiar picture from V/H/S/. Fans of different styles will have their favourites. Overall, though, it’s an above-average collection in my view and tries out a few new things in the process.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk
