V/H/S/Beyond (2024) review – Aliens, Analogue Glitches, And A Sluggish Search For Scares

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today, we are taking a look at the most recent iteration of the V/H/S horror anthology series, V/H/S/Beyond.

You know the deal

I am sure you know how these movies play out. A bunch of stories collected together in an anthology format, each one being directed by someone different, and presented as a collection of recovered VHS tapes. V/H/S/Beyond has far more of a science-fiction horror leaning than the earlier movies.

“V/H/S/Beyond has far more of a science-fiction horror leaning than the earlier movies. It’s based around aliens, robots, and mad scientists.”

It’s based around aliens, robots, and mad scientists. Whether that puts you off, or not, is up to you; it really isn’t all that appealing to me. The five segments here are linked together by a joining story called Abduction/Adduction, which plays out like a documentary discussing the mysterious disappearance of a man.

A mix of horror shorts

Story one, Stork directed by Jordan Downey, follows a group of police raiding a house where mysterious creatures are hiding human babies. The second story, Dream Girl directed by Virat Pal, is set in Bollywood and follows a pair of fans attempting to get up close and personal with their favourite actress. Live and Let Die, directed by Justin Martinez, follows a group of friends skydiving for a 30th birthday party but, unwittingly, finding themselves in a fight for their lives against hideous aliens.

The fourth story, Fur Babies directed by Justin and Christian Long, sees a group of animal rights activists investigating the home of a woman with some incredibly strange taxidermy dogs. And the final story, Stowaway directed by Kate Siegel, follows a woman who is documenting mysterious lights in the sky finding her way onto an alien vessel.

An annual horror tradition?

We reviewed V/H/S/85 earlier this year and quite enjoyed it. There’s a part of me, however, that just fails to get, even remotely, excited about these movies. I loved the first V/H/S on release and thought that the second was pretty decent, too. The following years, however, have just been a mixed bag of fairly unexciting and fairly generic horror. V/H/S/Beyond, for me, simply continues that trend.

There’s just nothing all that exciting here. Sure, a couple of the segments are well done and fairly entertaining, but it is nothing that is going to blow you away. These segments are all produced by well-established directors, as well, meaning there is a distinct feeling of “side project” to each story.

“It feels like, every year, more and more of these segments are abandoning creativity to go in a video-game-esque, action-heavy style. It’s getting old, fast.”

Couple that with a few of the little niggles that are very specific to the V/H/S series and I am starting to see these movies as more of a necessary chore, purely to review, rather than something I want to watch. At this point, I could take them or leave them and it wouldn’t make much difference.

One good, one bad, one so-so

I seriously disliked Jordan Downey’s Stork. It feels like the type of short movie a group of teenage boys would make if they had access to fairly decent movie-making equipment. It is Call of Duty meets Resident Evil Village with a hint of 80s action movie cheesiness. The overuse of ridiculous camera effects, a seemingly increased frame rate, and a ton of motion blur give this a very video-game feel. The story is dull, the action is predictable and it’s all just a bit cringe-inducing.

The following segment, Dream Girl, was slightly better but it really doesn’t have anything to shout about. Again, the action takes centre stage and it just feels very generic. Live and Let Die, by Justin Martinez of Southbound fame, might be the strongest segment, featuring some excitement, a decent amount of gore and some shocking moments. It is let down by some woefully poor CG aliens. They look horrendous and completely ruin the immersion.

They kind of remind me of that awful 2000s CG you would see in nature documentaries. You know the ones? They promise to let you “walk with the dinosaurs” but, in reality, you really walk with poorly rendered, low-quality, computer-generated crap. It is a fun segment, though, with some very cool moments and a jump scare that got my fiancée good.

One fantastic segment

I thought that Fur Babies, by Justin (of Barbarian fame) and Christian Long, was a lot of fun. It features a bit of an Annie Wilkes type character. As well as a seriously disturbing concept based around taxidermy and preserving the memory of lost pets. It is very tongue-in-cheek but also quite ruthless and disturbing.

“The complete overuse of analogue interference and tape damage is nauseatingly frustrating. It all starts to feel like a very amateur production.”

The strongest segment, and the only segment I think could be turned into a full movie, was Stowaway by Kate Siegel. This segment really keyed in on the idea that “less is more” and it works tremendously. The concept is absolutely horrifying and the execution is spot on. It’s fairly slow-paced but Siegel does a great job illustrating an idea of perpetual suffering.

Alanah Pearce’s delivery is a little over-rapid at first. She settles in well later on and presents a nuanced and sympathetic character. The connecting segment is okay, I suppose. It is presented ala Lake Mungo and other mockumentaries. The story isn’t all that interesting but it is better than most other V/H/S connecting stories… Though, that isn’t saying much, to be honest.

Acting is okay, throughout. Nothing special, for the most part, and a lot of overacting from certain characters. It is about what you would expect for an anthology horror.

The visual effects genuinely pissed me off here. I get it, this is supposed to be recovered VHS tapes. But the complete overuse of analogue interference and tape damage is nauseatingly frustrating. Couple that with the frequent crackling sound effects and sharp zoom-ins for no reason at all, and it all starts to feel like a very amateur production. All helmed by someone who wanted to use every single feature of his editing program.

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