V/H/S Beyond — V/H/S Beyond ( Blu Ray)
V/H/S Beyond is the seventh in this found-footage horror anthology series. The 2024 film features five stories with a distinctive sci-fi/alien-focused tone- with a wrap-around story regarding VHS tapes found at a flea market and a large house linked to extraterrestrials where all the inhabitants disappeared. Each story is fairly gore-bound- with often a pacy action-bound feel to their unfold. Here from Acorn Media International is a Blu-Ray release of the film- with a few extras on the disc.
The film has a total runtime of one hour and fifty-four minutes- each story runs around the ten to twenty-minute mark, and I’d say for the most part the stories remain rewarding enough- with a mix of good building tension/ mood, fairly neat concepts, and decent/ often quite gore bound effects.
So first up we have a wrap-around/ framing story Abduction/Adduction- which is presented as a formal talking head/on-site investigating footage/ found footage doc. This regards a selection of VHS tapes found at a Flea market- which are linked to a larger Canadian house, where all the inhabitants disappeared some years early. This is cut into five segments throughout the film- and largely the footage does manage to make for a believable enough doc- with special effect experts being brought in later given access to some of the footage. This was directed/written by Jay Cheel- who between 2005 and 2024v has fourteen credits to his name- taking in two feature films, and the rest are a mix of shorts/ anthology stories/ TV films- his two features are documentaries 2011's Beauty Day, looking at a Jackass like prankster. And 2016's How To Build A Time Machine- which follows two men trying to create their own time machines.
The first full story is Stork, and this is a horror action story with a Sci-fi twist. It regards a group of armed swat officers breaking into a house where white-eyed and bandaged head Zombies are running a mock. This story is filmed like a first-person horror game- as members of the team go from room to room- there’s a lot of gore in this one- with limps blow off, chainsaw attacks, and a brutal knifing - along the way the team finds a black rock egg from out of space, and something tall and grotesque in the houses attic. It’s an ok/ pacy/ brutal opening story- though the acting is not great in this one. It was directed/co-written by Ohio-born Jordan Downey- he has eight other credits to his name- taking three features, with the rest being shorts. His features take in comedy slasher regarding a killer turkey Thankskilling (2008), and its sequel Thankskilling 3(2012). And the wonderfully grim horror fantasies The Headhunter (2018)- regarding a medieval warrior who kills and collects the heads of various beasts and monsters.
Number two is Dream Girl- which is a Mumbai set/ subtitled story regarding two young journalists trying to get pictures of/ an interview with the latest Bollywood Star Tara. It starts off with great busy shots of the city- as the pair make their way to the site where Tara is making a video, and you guessed it she is not quite what she seems. In the story, we move from creepy/awkward voyeurism, a Face melting, and a fair bit of limb and heart ripping going on. This one is ok, though I feel I’ve seen a similar story in a before anthology. It was directed/co-written by Virat Pal- he has six other credits to his name- all but one of these are shorts, his only feature is 2016’s Recapture which is a thriller regarding a blind man.
The third story is Live And Let Dive- this is one of the favourite stories of the anthology. It regards a group of friends celebrating their buddy's 30th birthday by taking him on a skydiving experience- but just as they are in the air about to jump, a zipping & zapping UFO appears in the sky near them. We get some neat and tense falling through sky shooting, and creepy-to-brutal stalking in an orange grove. Can’t tell you too much more about this one- but it has some great moments of suspense, tension, and gore. This story was directed and co-written by Justin Martinez- who has six other short/ anthology stories- taking in a story from the first V/H/S(2021), a story in Southbound( 2016).
Story number four is Fur Babies- which regards a group of animal rights becoming obsessed with a woman who offers dog sitting, training, etc services. This features a great central performance from Libby Letlow Becky- a seemingly quirky, chatty, and bubbly owner of the business. This one has a great grotesque twist about it- with some brutal jaw-snappy gore. It was directed by actor Justin Long( Jeepers Creepers, Tusk), and (I’m presuming) his brother Christian
Finally, we have Stowaway- this regards a blond twenty-something woman making a documentary about a set of lights being seen in the desert. It starts off with a selection of interviews with those who observed the lights. Then she sets up a tent in the middle of where they were seen- one night she follows the lights to find a landed dull brown craft, she steps inside the flowing water-like doorway. This is a great disorientating and eerie story, with some rather tragic and troubling touches. It was directed by American screenwriter and actress Kate Siegel- she has on other directors’ credit is Lilly(2024)- a Stephen King-based short regarding a child finding a tiger lurking in a school bathroom- as well as forty-one acting roles. I really hope this won’t be the last of Siegel's directorial attempts- as she does a good job, and this is another highlight of the anthology.
On the extras side we have the following: Pre-visuals For Live And Let Dive (1.08). Libby Letlow audition tape for Fur Babies (4.47). Do You want A Selfie: making of Dreamgirl( 16.55). Behind the scenes of Stork with IGN (8.07), and Stowaway Timelapse (5.01). And a making of gallery for all of the stories. Not a bad selection of extras- though it might have been nice if we’d got a commentary track for the film- as previous releases in the series have featured these, and it’s always interesting to hear about each story’s creation,
V/H/S Beyond is another decent addition to this found footage anthology series, and the Sci-fi elements are most welcome. Not a perfect set of stories- but there are some really classy/ memorable ones here- like Live And Let Dive, Stowaway, and Furbabbies. Here’s looking forward to the next V/H/S film.