I'm somewhat familiar with the whole V/H/S series, I think I saw the first two when they came out like ten years ago or something.
This installment's good/bad stuff ratio is around 1:10.
I want to say upfront that this anthology will be quite shocking to average viewers, but it is unlikely to make a proper impression on fans of the genre. Mostly because it is set up as a gore galore (just your average grindhouse),not exactly trying to build up horror or anything.
I'll be brief.
1. The story that ties almost all of the segments together is filmed, acted, and written abysmally.
2. Most of the shorts have already been done in full feature in a better way (the obvious inspiration Grindhouse (2007),Rec/Quarantine, Frankenstein's Army (2013),Kill List (2011),The Tunnel (2011) to name a few).
3. Only two segments, The Subject and Terror were enjoyable. The Subject was ok because it was an interesting integration of the Doom Eternal videogame quick-kills, and the actor who played the Creator was fun to watch (although the limited budget almost killed it). Terror was a decent gory satire that went off the rails in a good way, yet heavily undermined by the way it was somewhat politically integrated into the main story.
4. The VHS effect gimmick is getting really old in these, so the fact that The Subject wasn't overloaded with it felt like a breather.
5. The film drags a lot without actually spending time on establishing anything. The time spent on running away (or sitting in a funeral house talking on a phone) could've been used to provide some attachment to the situation or the characters.
6. V/H/S/94 was repulsive, unpleasant, disgusting, but never actually scary. Again, this is very personal and obviously, it will have a stronger effect on the more sensitive viewers.
Overall, I don't think I can recommend it to horror fans. You might find something for you if you occasionally enjoy a gory mess like Grindhouse, but there's just so little of good in this. I don't think you should sit through everything else that ranges from so-so to just plain bad.
And yeah, the ending is too dumb to even try to pull it into an already non-existent story.
V/H/S/94
2021
Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
V/H/S/94
2021
Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
Five new chapters expand the VHS saga, featuring a new set of horror filmmakers. Starting with "Holy Hell", an armed-to-the-teeth SWAT team storms into a dilapidated warehouse complex and unearths disturbing scenes of sacrifice and the evildoing of an underground snuff/fetish film cult. Then, in "Storm Drain", intrigued by an urban legend, an ambitious TV news reporter and her cameraman enter the city's labyrinthine sewer system looking for a mysterious creature living in the shadows. Next, in "The Empty Wake", a young funeral home attendant oversees an overnight wake for a man who met a horrible end, and strange things happen. Following, in "The Subject", a demented prosthetics genius performing unethical experiments on living tissue attempts to perfect his biomechanical magnum opus. Finally, in "Terror", members of the First Patriots Movement Militia plan to carry out a terrorist attack in Detroit, Michigan, using an incendiary secret weapon of pure evil.
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Sorry, but no (a brief review by the genre(s) fan for the genre(s) fans)
A worthy addition to the V/H/S/ movies.
Some of these shorts in this film series are suprisingly original and well executed for the budget. Every one of the V/H/S/ films has a few gems to give. If you are a fan of the anthology style horror films, then i would recommend this and the other films in this series.
The score is dropping faster than my stock portfolio
Segment One: I'm digging it. Something about a lizard monster had been mentioned but that's ridiculous so that was obviously a misdirection..right? Ambitious reporter and her camera man venture deep into a creepy storm drain with a new story in mind. It's getting tense. Oh no...the lizard was real and he's..a demon God? Or something. Ok.
Segment 2: Something is thumping around in a coffin. Let's flicker some lights and fail to build tension. OK, here ya go. He only has half a head. Crazy, right?
Segment 3: Nice work. Not as good as your cult story in the 2nd one but better than anything in this.
Segment 4: Nope. Not 100% sure what the idea was but 100% sure it sucked.
The wraparound: Often in life, less is more. For example, a half naked undead man sitting in a recliner or a woman watching tapes in an not-so-empty house. Simple. Effective. Unsettling. 8 awful actors running around a very elaborately decorated warehouse and a twist ending that none of us deserved. Complicated. Eye-rolling. I hate you.
I'd like to apologize to VHS Viral and all the mean things I said about you. While you still suck, you don't seem to suck nearly as much today as you did yesterday.
If Halloween Kills or the new Paranormal Activity pull a VHS 94 on me, I'm switching to romantic comedies from now on. This is bad for my mental health.