“V/H/S/Beyond” is the seventh installment of the V/H/S franchise, not including the spin-offs. An anthology series of found-footage horror short films debuted in 2012 with “V/H/S”. The first trilogy came out in succession from 2012 to 2014, with “V/H/S: Viral” being the last movie in the franchise until 2021 with the start of the Years Trilogy. With the success of the Years trilogy, the streaming platform Shudder announced that in 2024, the seventh V/H/S movie was in the works. The film premiered in September of this year and was later released through Shudder on Oct. 4, 2024.
Warning: spoilers below
V/H/S/Beyond features five segments presented as a documentary with commentary from extraterrestrial and digital effects experts. Those experts are real-life experts, which adds to the realism of the found footage film. This is the film’s framing narrative, with the other four segments being presented as having been recorded over the course of the documentary.
The movie starts with the documentary segment being introduced where we are presented with two VHS tapes that supposedly have evidence of what happened at the Farrington House, the location of a popular Canadian urban legend. We are introduced to the experts discussing the legend of the Farrington House. This segment is brilliantly done and plays off as an actual episode you would find on the History Channel.
We then cut to the next segment titled “Stork.” It is stylized as a first-person shooter, as we get the point of view of a rookie cop who is about to go out on his first raid with other police officers. As we learn later, these police are monster hunters. As they enter the house, the segment plays out like a monster-hunting video game as the team clears wave after wave of what they call “brooders.” This segment is a lot more action-focused than the other segments in the movie, as this one does not focus on the mystery of supernatural topics as much. Overall, a 7/10 segment.
We then cut back to the narrative documentary segment as they mention the house was bought sometime in the 1980s by wealthy Chinese immigrants. After the parents passed, the eldest son began experiencing night terrors, so he started recording them in his sleep, a la Paranormal Activity.
We then cut to Mumbai with the segment “Dream Girl,” where paparazzi try to get videos and pictures of this new Bollywood star. When one of the paparazzi then breaks into her trailer, it is revealed that she is an android, and she proceeds to kill them brutally. This segment brings Bollywood Horror to the states and features great mystery and practical effects. I rate it 7.5/10; seeing international horror is cool.
We then cut to the documentary explaining the origins of gray aliens. This is probably the most boring part of the narrative segment.
We then cut to a Go-Pro film of a skydiving group celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday party in the segment “Live and Let Dive.” The birthday boy tells the party that he is nervous about skydiving. His fears about skydiving are set aside as they see a UFO up in the sky, which starts to move around and then crashes into them. An alien’s hand can be seen briefly. As the plane explodes, most people try to deploy their parachutes. As we get to the ground safely, we learn that some of his friends didn’t make it, and then the alien from earlier starts to chase them around. The alien looks insanely stupid and ruins this segment for me. It has great potential, but the budget really limits it at times. I’d rate it 5/10.
In the narrative, we are introduced to Digital Corridor, and they explain how UFO sightings are easily faked with digital effects and how they can accomplish these feats. These guys play as really good antagonists to the believers.
We then cut to a promo for a dog-watching company, and then the segment “Furbabies” plays. This segment is incredibly weird and I suggest readers look it up at their discretion. This segment only plays for the gross-out effects and employs cheap humor. I’d rate it 3/10 but do not go into this expecting quality.
When we go back to the narrative documentary, they talk about popular hoaxes and show off Digital Corridor’s own hoax, which is where they digitally created a fake Boston Dynamics robot. It is said that the video caused the company to receive death threats.
We then enter “Stowaway.” which is the best and highest quality segment, written by Mike Flanagan and directed by Kate Siegel. The segment is about a freelance reporter covering a group of lights that have appeared above the Mojave desert. We see her lose hope in finding the lights, but suddenly, she finds them and stows away on the alien ship. This segment stands out and could stand alone as its own short film. 9/10, a segment that truly captures human curiosity.
We then wrap up the documentary with the tape mentioned at the beginning of the movie, and we get to see the alien that had abducted the eldest son. This is also done with really interesting practical effects, but it feels lackluster following up with “Stowaway.” Overall a 4.5/10 movie and really makes me miss the retro aspect of the previous films.
