V/H/S/Beyond (Various, 2024) Review

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“That's why everyone likes filming spooky things with VHS cameras.” A few years ago the terror-fuelled streaming service Shudder took over the portmanteau horror franchise V/H/S, one that has always produced mixed results, from soaring heights of inventive and gore-drenched scares to crushing lows of misplaced fumbling for direction. Now onto their fourth entry in the long-running series, does Shudder's alien-themed V/H/S/Beyond deliver the gruesome, gruelling goods?...

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V/H/S/85 (2023) review...

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The V/H/S portmanteau horror anthology franchise has been a mixed bag from its inception, but this inherently goes with the territory. The first film, from 2012, was a bold but flawed beginning that was clearly one story too long and, most egregiously, suffered from featuring numerous characters who were outright wretched to spend any time with. The 2013 follow-up clocked in at an agreeably brisk 92 minutes, balanced the tone and characters, and explored a nice variety of ideas, styles, and approaches to the set-up. Sadly, 2014's V/H/S/Viral was thoroughly misguided, at times appearing embarrassingly cheap and sloppy, while also featuring mostly uninspiring tales.

Fast forward to 2021 and horror streaming service Shudder co-produced and distributed V/H/S/94, which proved to be a return to form and an impressive doubling-down on the 'vhs style'. It had some weak aspects, but it's strengths outnumbered its weaknesses. Hopes were high, then, for 2022's V/H/S/99, which absolutely dropped the ball. Aside from one segment ("Suicide Bid"), the film was a mess of miss opportunities, half-baked ideas (some of which didn't fit the format or franchise tone whatsoever), aggressive amounts of shaky-cam, and poorly-placed humour.

Nonetheless, V/H/S/99 was a ratings hit, but this was no doubt built more on the achievements of its immediate predecessor that it's own content, as born out by numerous reactions from the audience. Approaching V/H/S/85, therefore, came with some serious concern that the wrong lessons would be learned from V/H/S/99's success. Thankfully, V/H/S/85 feels more in-keeping with the first two entries in the franchise as well as V/H/S/94...

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V/H/S: Viral - a rant/review...

What's it about?
The third instalment in the anthology series in which different writer/director teams conjure up strange tales of horror. This time there's a killer magician, a gateway to a parallel dimension, and skater kids taking on 'Blind Dead' style zombies in Mexico.
Who would I recognise in it?
Erm...
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
V/H/S was decent - but had significant flaws, the biggest being an overlong run time, and some truly unlikable male characters with whom you didn't want to spend any time with whatsoever. The latter aspect was, indeed, rather insulting to the entire male gender, tarring all blokes with the same brush while simultaneously reducing the female characters to sketched-in object/avenger binary codes.

V/H/S/2 was a considerable step up in quality, with a talented range of writer/directors behind the camera, a much more suitable running time, and a range of tales (with interesting characters) that displayed a wealth of invention and creativity - not to mention fun!

The third film? I try not to come down too hard on flicks, particularly in the last few years, and my tolerance for garbage is fairly high (there's usually something to redeem even your shoddiest bit of grindhouse grot) ... but V/H/S: Viral is, and there's no softly-softly way of saying this - dreadful...

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Chillerama (Green/Lynch/Rifkin/Sullivan, 2011) DVD Review

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“What I want to know is what the sweet scent of Satan's scrote is going on here.” Anthology horror – as well as horror heyday nostalgia – has been in rude health in recent years. Case in point: Chillerama – a goofy horror comedy that takes a love of Drive-In movie-going memories and splatters it from head to toe with blood, guts, puzzling blue goo, and an awful lot of the, not only brown, but white stuff for good measure! Featuring Werebears, a nymphomaniac Eva Braun, an enormous killer spermatozoa, and an outbreak of horny zombies – which accounts for just the tip of the bizarre idea iceberg – Chillerama is, to put it mildly, just a little bit strange...

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The ABCs of Death 2 (2015) DVD Review

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Amongst the recent upswing in anthology horror movies, we've had three V/H/S flicks (so far), and now we've got The ABCs of Death 2, which returns to the '26 Directors, 26 Ways to Die' formula that produced such a varied – and often downright bizarre – series of short films, where crazed invention ruled above all else. Naturally, with such varied films (and filmmakers), the results are mixed – read on for a run-down of the Hits, Misses, and OK inbetweeners. N.B. This is my personal take: film viewing is subjective, and your mileage with The ABCs of Death 2 may vary.

A is for “Amateur” (E.L. Katz):

Kicking things off in a high energy, music video style, the first of twenty-six shorts details the exploits of an assassin – but the perfect hit turns out to be a far more difficult (not to mention grubbier and more painful) affair than intended. Featuring Andy Nyman (Severance), this is a darkly comic treat. HIT.

B is for “Badger” (Julian Barratt):

A found footage style entry set during the recording of a nature documentary called “Toland's World”, with The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt as a preening Attenborough wannabe. A nearby nuclear power station seems to have killed off the local badger population – or has it? Typically British in its understated humour, but the jump scare fails to startle … good gore, though. OK.

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Double Bill Mini Musings: Horror show double dose...

V/H/S/2:
What's it about?
Horror sequel to the format-obsessed anthology horror in which four chilling and experimental tales are viewed by private investigators who break into a creepy house furnished with television screens, VCRs, and stacks of VHS tapes.
Who would I recognise in it?
Nobody probably, with this it's more about recognising the names of the directors involved.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
The original V/H/S was a pretty solid anthology horror with some good scares and plenty of atmosphere, but it also had significant downsides: some of the dialogue was flat-out awful, the majority of the male characters were 'alpha male brosephs' at best and full-on misogynists at worst, and it was one-tale-too-long. Thankfully the filmmakers have listened to the commonly-held criticisms of the first and addressed them. This sequel does chuck in nudity that's not strictly necessary, but the characters are far more balanced (and therefore easier to invest in) ... likewise the writing is much improved, although Simon Barrett's segments still featuring some moments of terribly blunt exposition that could have been easily solved with some minor tweaks ... and it's now four main stories with a wrap-around, rather than five.

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The ABCs of Death (2013) Review...

Anthology horror films are experiencing a regained sense of rude health of late, particularly with high profile flicks like V/H/S and it's sequel, but The ABCs of Death manages to strike new ground within the anthology horror sub-genre – put simply: 26 Directors, 26 Ways to Die. 

However, the trouble with anthology films is that not all parts are equal, with some failing to measure up at all – so what will it be for this inventive onslaught of horror? Hits, misses, and the iffy in-betweens all coming up for all 26 shorts.

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