V/H/S/99 — V/H/S/99(Blu Ray)

Here is the fifth entry in the V/H/S film series- the horror-found footage anthology series that started in 2012. And it’s fair to say that the quality of this series has been decidedly mixed over its run. This new 109-minute feature takes in five stories in all, and I am pleased to say that for the most part, it’s an enjoyable ride- with a fair bit of gore, some neat creepy atmospherics, and one or two effective jumps. Here from Acorn Media International is Blu Ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, and a few other extras.

V/H/S/99 is a 2022 production. And as with all of the series, each story has a different director/ cast. And as the film's title suggests, all the stories occur around the year 1999. On the whole, each of the stories are fairly gore-bound affairs, which seemingly use both practical & (largely) well-realized digital effects.

Unlike many anthology films, we don’t have a traditional framing story running through the whole film. The only thing we do get reappearing though much of the film is a series of play stop motion footage of toy soldiers- with playful voiceovers and red gore.

The first story is Shredding- it was written and directed by Maggie Levin- who started directing in 2015 episodes of the US Teen mystery TV show The Friendless Five, as well as a few shorts like comedy horror Vain: This Party Sucks (2017), musical drama Diva (2019), and dark sports drama Heel ( 2020).  Shredding focuses on R.A.C.K.- a four-piece twenty-something punk band come video pranksters. They come up with the idea of hanging out in Colony, a former underground set music venue that burned down three years prior- with the band that played that night show dying in the fire. Most of R.A.C.K are largely an annoying & obnoxious collective, with only Indian American Ankur (Keanush Tafreshi) being bearable- as he is been bullied by the other three & has some sort of sense to him.  The gang go to the venue, and you guess it- things don’t go too well. With a rather haunted house meets living dead vibe to the resolve.

Next, we have Suicide Bid- this was directed by UK Cambridge-born Johannes Roberts. He has sixteen other credits to his name dating back to the early 2000’s going from feature lengths like low-budget sci-fi/ horror Sanitarium (2001), onto stalking hoody horror F (2010), shark attack action horror 47 Meters Down (2017), and reboot survival horror Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). 
Suicide Bid is a sorority hazing-focused story- which finds eager freshman Lily (Ally Ioannides) wanting to be part of join Beta Sigma Eta, the most prestigious sorority on her campus. To join she has to be buried alive in a graveyard at night- with the girls adding an extra twist, by putting a box of spiders in the coffin with her. Just after they buried her & start trying to scare her, they have to run off due to graveyard security- and when they return the next day, the hole is filled with rainwater & there was no sign of Lilly. This is a very effective catastrophic story, with some believable acting from its lead.

Story number three is Ozzy's Dungeon- this was written by Zoe Cooper & Flying Lotus, and directed by Flying Lotus. Ms Cooper is more known as an actress with twelve credits to her name between the early 2000s & present. And Flying Lotus is more known for his soundtrack work- with between 2005 and present-day having twenty-five score credits to his name, with these covering both shorts, TV shows, and features. Ozzy's Dungeon tells of African American teen Donna( Amelia Ann) whose trying to get herself & her poverty-stricken family out of the ghetto of Detroit, by being a contestant on Ozz’s Dungeon- which is a not very safe/ pleasant gameshow, as it sees teens trying to make their way through a surreal/ dangerous assault course. She, unfortunately, damages her leg badly- so her large & pushy mother takes things into her own hands by putting the host through a truly gruelling and brutal night-time assault course.

Story number four is The Gawkers- which is written by Chris Lee Hill and Tyler MacIntyre, and directed by Tyler MacIntyre. Hill has seven previous writing credits- going from shorts, TV episodes, and one of two films. MacIntyre has eleven credits to his name, and a few of these are with Hill. Fitting its title, The Gawkers regards a group of suburban American teens who keep peeping on their hot & blond twenty-something female neighbour. This one has quite a neat/ surprising twist in its tail, which links in Greek mythology into the mix.

Lastly, we have To Hell & Back- which was directed by Written and directed by Vanessa & Joseph Winter. Vanessa has seven credits to her name- taking in shorts, TV episodes, and one feature-length comedy/ horror Deadstream( 2022). And Joseph has six credits to his name, though he co-directed Deadstream with Vanessa. To Hell & Back does pretty much what its title suggests, and finds doc-making buddies Nate (Archelaus Crisanto) and Troy(Joseph Winter) on midnight 1999 filming a demon transferal ceremony in a suburban house- to seemingly get sent directly to hell. This story has a horror comedy feel, with hell itself being very well realized as this thunder-striking night-time strange rock scape, and mutilated Lovecraftian-like semi-human begins- with some quirky examples of splattery gore. It’s a great end to the V/H/S/ 99, and has certainly made me keen to check out Deadstream.

I’d say I equally enjoyed all five stories here, which is certainly something I wasn’t expecting. With the whole thing being an entertaining blend of chills, thrills, and gore. If I had one slight criticism- it's at points the whole glitchy & swarming VHS effects are overdone, and some of the stories feature decidedly dizzying camera work. So if this is something that normally puts you off the found footage, I’d say approach with caution.                       

Moving onto the extras on this Blu-Ray, and we get a good selection of things. First off we get a commentary track hosted by two of the members of the Bloody Disgusting podcast- with each segment/ film getting comment from its creator, so as you can imagine we lot of interesting insights. We get a fifty-one-minute on-stage Q&A regarding the film. And lastly, we get a selection of uncut scenes, making-of's, etc for each film segment.
 

V/H/S/99 is a return to great ‘n’ bloody form from the V/H/S/ series, and let us hope it will spark another sequel. As well as wider interest in creating more found footage horror again- as when it’s done well (like here) the genre really is very effective and captivating.