V/H/S BEYOND (2024) Review by Steve Kirkham

V/H/S BEYOND (2024)

3 stars
Acorn Media International. Blu ray, DVD and Digital. Out Now

Another day, another entry in the ongoing V/H/S series of anthology films. I have lost count of how many have been made and have to admit I have never been a particular fan, especially due to the found footage aesthetic. This time out has a more science fiction angle to the various tales.

The wraparound sequence, which is interwoven with the other stories, has someone buying two video cassettes at a flea market, which supposedly show evidence of an alien encounter. It is framed within a faux documentary show. A filmmaker obtains footage from these ‘holy grail’ tapes. These parts are actually nicely done.

Cut to the first story – ‘Stork’ by Justin Downey. A bunch of policemen meet up and arm up ready to go. Of course one of them is filming everything. They are setting off to search for some babies that have been kidnapped including one of the cops own. In an old house they are soon being confronted by ferocious zombie like creatures including one with a chainsaw. Gunfire ensues. All the ghouls have an odd bandage on their heads… all quite freaky with plenty of splatter.

The second tale is ‘Dream Girl’ by Virat Pal and is a Bollywood set horror. Two cameramen/reporters are sent off to Film City – to try and get to the Dream Girl of the title, Superstar Tara. There are rumours that she is into witchcraft. They get on set – so we get a song and dance number! One of them hides in a cupboard in her trailer to spy on her. They find out more than they were bargaining for — mayhem ensues. Somewhat odd with lots of jerky footage (my favourite kind… not).

Next up is ‘Live and Let Dive’ from Justin Martinez. A group of friends are celebrating a 30th birthday by going skydiving together. Getting ready to jump they see a UFO and then a military aircraft. Then their plane is hit and they are dropped from the sky as the plane is ripped apart. Who will survive? Is it an invasion? This has a clever concept – plus annoying shakycam.

‘Fur Babies’ is directed by Christian and Justin Long. Doggie Dream House – activists believe that the chirpy host that runs it is actually abusing the dogs in her care. When a couple of them go in undercover they find something far more sinister. Just weird!

Finally we have ‘Stowaway’, with a script by Mike Flanagan and directed by his wife Kate Siegel in her debut. Alannah is in the Mojave Desert – at a UFO hotspot. She is interviewing people who have seen lights in the sky and possible alien encounters for a documentary. She plans to camp out in the desert and hopes to capture the lights on camera. Much of the footage is indistinct making it unclear what is going on and it is ultimately a mess.

If you are a fan of this series of movies then you will want to check this out – and one assumes enough people are liking them as they keep making them! Myself, I can do without them.

Steve Kirkham