V/H/S/Beyond

One of the better parts this series of found footage anthologies under the V/H/S label so far. This time around, none of the stories stand out in terms of quality, either up or down. Which is fine, it consistently held my interest at a level of moderate satisfaction. Screenwriting-wise, they don't attempt anything sophisticated, the stories are banal, but to their credit, they all (with one exception) devolve into unhinged bloody chaos pretty soon, as we like it best in this subgenre. (05/10/2024)

A return to the excellent first two episodes! Good old V/H/S with the popular sci-fi and UFO themes and for me a blast! For a very unknown creative team of mostly debutants or not very successful or experienced directors, they handled it very nicely. The highlight for me is the first story, Stork, where a bunch of cops go to explore a haunted house, where they find hybrid zombies waiting for them, popping out of nowhere! It reminded me a bit of the game “Left for Dead”. It's got great cinematography, decent action, proper gore and a nice monster at the end. An action gore blast!! 8/10. The second story, Dream Girl, is about an Indian dancer who turns into something unidentifiable and starts a pretty decent gore fest. Unfortunately most of the action is in the dark and with flashing lights, which bothered me a bit but didn't totally offend. 6/10. The third story, Live and Let Dive, impressed me with a nasty plane crash, which is escalated by a hunt for a nicely designed alien. Thrilling, with good gore and make-up effects. I liked it. 7/10. The fourth story, Fur Animals, struck me as the weakest at first, but it eventually escalated into a twisted taxidermy exploitation involving human-dog hybrids! Decently insane. 7/10. The fifth story, Stowaway, is about a woman who researches UFOs and enters a spaceship. I found it rather interesting, but there's not much to see and it's the weakest one, with neither action nor gore. 5/10. And the final short story is more of a framework, ending with a two minute shot of an alien, which looks nice, but that's about it, no rating here. I appreciate that there was a focus on action and gore, a subject close to my heart, so I'm satisfied. 75% (04/10/2024)