One Star Classics : V/H/S/Beyond

V/H/S/Beyond

Oct 06, 2024 / Mike Flanagan Watch

Another October, another V/H/S; this time better than the past couple of years. To be clear, I don’t downright love this anthology, but half of the shorts are of high quality.

The wraparound story focuses on alien abductions, and it’s… fine. Abduction/Adduction has the bones to make a good story, focusing on a Chinese-Canadian family that may or may not have had an alien encounter. The problem is that it feels disconnected, and the various threads never really connect in any meaningful way. Still, as a setup for the alien-centric theme, it does the job well enough.

Of the three stories that do work, the last one is the best—not surprisingly, when you look at the pedigree behind it. Stowaway was directed by Kate Siegel, based on a script by her husband, Mike Flanagan. We’re talking major horror royalty here.

The story switches between being funny and freaky, with a wannabe documentarian tracking down extraterrestrial encounters in the Mojave desert. When she finally finds a UFO—while taping over her daughter’s birthday video (there will always be more birthdays!)—she finds herself trapped within it, facing the possibility of being whisked away to another galaxy. It’s well written and well shot—and the body horror truly lives up to the anthology’s beyond label.

Fur Babies is co-directed/co-written by OSC-favorite Justin Long, and it features the type of weird, dark humor you’d expect from the man. An animal-rights group investigates a doggie daycare, which, seemingly, also performs taxidermy. It’ll come as little surprise that the owner doesn’t stop with K-9s. (Amazingly, too, there aren’t any triggering moments for dog lovers. (Also, maybe I should’ve used pedigree here instead.))

Finally, Justin Martinez’ Live and Let Dive. Southbound, where Martinez directed The Way In and The Way Out, still ranks as my favorite horror anthology, so no surprise this episode hits home. It might even be visually V/H/S/Beyond’s most captivating segment.

A birthday party group is set to skydive when they, for all intents and purposes, are sideswiped by a UFO. Forced to jump unprepared—some without parachutes—only some make it down alive, where they’re faced with alien hunters.

It’s a tense race, and the effects look better than I can imagine the budget truly should allow.

The two remaining stories are the Bollywood-centered Dream Girl (which does feature a killer dance scene) and Stork, which looks like Doom-meets-Resident Evil. (The video games, not the movies.)

Look, V/H/S/Beyond streams on Shudder, and if you already have a subscription, there’s no reason not to watch this anthology. The three aforementioned segments are very good, and the rest is just fine. It’s not going to be life-altering, but it’s an entertaining two hours.

By Remi, Oct 06, 2024

Letterboxd summary: The infinite playground of forbidden worlds and dangerous lifeforms offered by the sci-fi horror genre will lead to the biggest, maddest, bloodiest V/H/S ever.