Premise: Another horror anthology made up of found footage-style shorts.
At this point, it’s safe to call V/H/S my favorite horror franchise. The first two movies are among my favorite films in any genre. The structure of the anthologies is ideal. Since all shorts are supposed to be found-footage, there’s a consistency in style. The producers putting this together appear to give the filmmakers enough guidance that the tones don’t conflict. One of my least favorite things in horror anthologies is when one short is dark and serious then the next tries to be funny in a way the deflates the whole thing. That’s rarely been a problem with V/H/S. Even when a segment is funny, it’s not actively undoing the structure of the movie. Despite this control of tone and style, the filmmakers are giving freedom everywhere else. The V/H/S mythology is very loose. There’s a collective who collect tapes of horror for…reasons unknown. They seem to be up to something nefarious, but that’s all we know. As a result, the tapes can be about anything, as long as it looks like a found tape.
The franchise went dormant after 2014’s V/H/S Viral. That was by far my least favorite installment. I thought it meant they were either out of ideas or out of good filmmakers to recruit. Thankfully though, Shudder has resurrected the franchise and appears to be making these annually again. V/H/S/94 last year was a fine return to form. V/H/S/85 is coming next year. And this year we get V/H/S/99.
I might as well break this down by segment.
Shredding
This is the story of an alt-band who goes to an abandoned music venue for a secret show in the spot where another band was killed in an accident I really liked all the “re-recorded VHS” effects. I still remember using the same tape over and over myself and getting snippets of old recordings at the beginning and end. That was a nice touch. The story itself is good but not spectacular. The recording feels a lot more like an amateur web series now than in 1999, but long ago I let go of perfect fidelity in found footage movies. There are some gnarly kills and cool visuals, especially toward the end, so I was pleased with it.
Suicide Bid
Again, it’s best not to question how much video coverage this sorority prank gone wrong has. This was a stand out for me. It felt very 1999 in costuming. I love a good claustrophobic horror story. This is a great example of why horror in anthology size works so well. A 90-minute feature of this story would get tedious. This short bite is straight to the point and doesn’t stick around long enough for me to ask any questions about the supernatural element.
Ozzy’s Dungeon
I’ve already seen per Twitter that tastes vary on this one. It’s the story of a family getting revenge on the host of a Legends of the Hidden Temple-esque show after an on-set accident. Then it morphs into something much more supernatural. I absolutely love the ambition of this one. "Safe Haven" in V/H/S/2 remains the high point of the franchise because the filmmakers refused to let the story feel small just because it was a horror anthology. I like that director Flying Lotus goes big on this too.
I really, really hate the style of this one though. Found-footage works best with less polish. It’s easy to make a guy running around a dark house cheaply. It’s much harder to make a fake game show set cheaply. The Ozzy’s Dungeon show footage looks very fake. It’s shot like it’s a horror movie, which makes no sense with the found footage style. This reminded me a lot of “Dante the Great” from V/H/S Viral, which I absolutely despised. At no point does "Ozzy’s Dungeon" feel real. For that reason, it took me out of the flow of the movie. In a different anthology, it would’ve worked a lot better for me, but it doesn’t belong in V/H/S. Not in that style, at least.
The Gawkers
This is the most vintage V/H/S segment of the bunch. The premise of why this was being recorded made the most sense. It’s a bunch of horny teens with a camera snooping on a hot neighbor. It then has the V/H/S twist of the neighbor being a gorgon, which is fun. It’s not the most original of the bunch, but it’s well done and simple. The V/H/S movies need a good balance.
As the linking video to the others, this doesn’t work as well. Part of the reason why the first two-V/H/S movies are my favorites is because the linking segments made the most sense. Both are simply people going into a house and watching a few tapes before something bad then happens to them. The mythology is light, but it’s enough to make sense and form a structure. Since then, they’ve tried going bigger with the linking which hasn’t worked as well. In V/H/S/99, they don’t even try to explain why I’m watching these 5 short films cut together like this. I suppose the idea is that all these stories were copied onto this one tape that we are watching. That’s certainly better than whatever was going on in V/H/S/94.
To Hell and Back
I can deal with comic segments in V/H/S as long as they still stick to the conceit of the film. "To Hell and Back" is quite silly. Two friends get sent to hell on accident by witches performing a ritual and have to figure out how to get back to the world of the living. It sticks to the single camera though. The witches are actually able to perform supernatural spells. The comedy of the two friends comes from them being overwhelmed but taking the situation seriously. I quite enjoyed how it was done.
Overall, V/H/S/99 is a great installment in the franchise. I’ll never love a V/H/S as much as the first two movies. That love came as much from alchemy and context as quality. That can’t be reproduced. As an installment of a sustainable franchise though, I have no complaints. I’m curious to see what many of the participating filmmakers do next.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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