Dir. Jay Cheel, Jordan Downey, Christian Long, Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pal, & Kate Siegel (2024)
A new collection of stories in the VHS Universe with a science fiction theme.
I'm an enormous fan of the V/H/S series, and while there are definitely some entries that aren't quite up to par with the best ones, all of them are entertaining even at their worst. At their best, they're some of the best found footage ever made. The newest entry in the series, Beyond, is dedicated to the science fiction side of the horror genre, delivering its terror via segments involving aliens, robots, and one particularly strange dog trainer. In an effort to provide adequate coverage to each segment of the film, I'll talk about each one individually, because this may be the best entry into the series since the original VHS.
The wraparound short of course comes first, a faux documentary called Abduction/Adduction in which a Redditor found a couple of VHS tapes allegedly containing a scene of an alien abduction. It's well-produced, with all but the tape itself having a polished, television quality. It's decent, but it also follows the tradition of the series of being by far the weakest of the shorts simply because it's broken into so many parts throughout the entire film. It also ends rather abruptly, and I would have liked to see a bit more from what was a pretty fascinating take on the topic.
The "real" film opens with Stork, from director Jordan Downey. The short involves a group of police officer types who are investigating the disappearance of several babies from local families, tracing the clues to a singular location. I won't give anything away about the short itself, but it was one of my favorites in the film. It's gory as hell, with incredibly impressive effects, and contains some great performances from the cast as well. It was a creative idea fulfilled just about perfectly by Downey and his crew.
The second short, Dream Girl from director Virat Pal, is about a couple of Bollywood paparazzi who get the chance to go on set with one of the hottest stars in entertainment. When they sneak into her trailer to try to get some candid shots, they realize they're about to get more than they asked for. This one was excellent as well, carrying on the theme of outstanding effects and adding a different layer to the science fiction goodness of it all. My only gripe is that it was a little bit hard to see at times, which, while perhaps frustrating for the viewer, makes total sense with the found footage quality of the film.
The third segment was my favorite of the bunch, a bonkers depiction of what it would be like to go skydiving during an alien invasion. Even though the previous two films had some stellar effects, Live and Let Dive managed to one-up them in creating one of my favorite segments of the entire series. Justin Martinez, part of the Radio Silence team, directed the short and just absolutely knocks it out of the park. This is one you have to see to believe.
The penultimate segment is called Fur Babies, and it's somehow exactly what you expect and way more insane than you thought possible. From directors Justin and Christian Long, this one is about a dog trainer who really doesn't like to get rid of her old pets. Similar in style, at least in the "switcheroo" aspect, to Long's role in Barbarian, this one is nutballs and a hell of a lot of fun. Probably the most disturbing of the shorts, and it's an absolute blast for horror fans.
Finally, the segment I anticipated the most was Stowaway, the directorial debut of Kate Siegel. It's probably the most technically well-done of all of the shorts, but it's also the hardest to watch in a way. Most of the film is in the dark, a deliberate choice by Siegel but one that makes it at times difficult to discern what's going on. The short is a brilliant concept, which again I won't spoil here, and it's definitely one I'd like to see explored even further. It reminded me a good bit of Stephen King's classic story The Jaunt, which to this day is still the most terrifying piece of media I've ever encountered. Makes sense, as the short was written by Siegel's husband Mike Flanagan, and the pair are the most exciting horror duo on the planet. While I don't know that I would've chosen to make the film as dimly lit as it was, it's still a stellar short that shows a good bit of restraint from Siegel and contains a fantastic performance from star Alanah Pearce.
Anthology films tend to have at least one segment that brings down the film as a whole, and it's generally up to the stronger segments to carry the film. The VHS series falls victim to this as much as any other anthology, though the good segments are quite often outstanding. Beyond does not have this problem: literally every short in the film is phenomenal. I've mentioned a few of what I believe to be flaws above, but it's more of a matter of taste than quality. Beyond may well be the best, or at least second best, entry in the entire franchise. It's an excellent watch, and I'm going to keep watching these films as long as Shudder keeps producing them.
Who this movie is for: Anthology film fans, Sci-fi junkies, Dog moms
Bottom line: VHS Beyond is quite possibly the best film in the entire franchise. Every single segment is outstanding, and there's some serious talent behind the director's chair. Tons of great special effects, excellent performances from the cast, and a great found footage foundation that serves as the backdrop to some really rad-as-hell stories. This one is gonna be streaming on Shudder 10/4, and you should definitely watch if you're a fan of the series.
