An ominous mixtape blends never-before-seen snuff footage with nightmarish newscasts and disturbing home videos to create a surreal, analog mashup of the forgotten 80s.
For in-depth thoughts on V/H/S/85, please see my colleague Lee Vaughn’s review from its original festival premiere here.
Video Quality
V/H/S/85 comes to Blu-Ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio, and anyone familiar with the series knows that it is purposefully NOT going to shine on Blu-Ray. Due to the creative aesthetic of the film, any HD footage that was originally shot has been processed to look like the terrible quality VHS of the past. The colors in the film are muted with few shades in the production design, clothing, or environments making an impression. Fine detail is similarly nonexistent with very little in the way of depth to the image. The picture features the tracking lines and thick grain of VHS with a blob of undefined murkiness during the shadowy moments. The cinematography of the film is very purposeful, and, while it may not be the most beautiful presentation, this disc captures it as well as you could hope. Overall, this is a nice transfer for the type of film it is.
Audio Quality
V/H/S/85 comes to Blu-Ray with a much more effective DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The movie is not as slavish in trying to create a vintage experience on the audio side, but there are still intentional limitations put in place to conjure the lackluster recording equipment. Despite some adherence to authenticity, the environmental sounds still provide a three-dimensional atmosphere for the story. The low end of the track is especially active during more kinetic moments of attacks and confrontations. Dialogue and sound effects are appropriately balanced with the music where nothing gets swallowed up in the track. Surround channels get some welcome activity during the more kinetic scenes and with the natural ambiance of interpersonal moments. This track represents this movie well and will be appreciated by fans who pick up this disc. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Bloody Disgusting’s “Boo Crew” hosts a commentary track with several of the filmmakers and producers from various segments including Josh Goldbloom, David Bruckner, Mike P. Nelson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani, Zoe Cooper, and Evan Dickson. There are some interesting insights into how each segment came about including finding unique locations to shoot, some of the themes tackled, the special effects, the performers in the film, the creative production design, and much more you won’t want to miss.
- Uncut Super 8 Dreamkill Footage: A 16-minute selection of footage is presented without sound that shows a ton of gnarly footage.
- Uninterrupted Cut – Total Copy: A 17-minute uninterrupted version of the segment from David Bruckner.
- Uninterrupted Cut – No Wake/Ambrosia: A 29-minute uninterrupted version of the segments from Mike P. Nelson.
Final Thoughts
V/H/S/85 finds the long-running horror anthology hitting a creative high after a couple of more mixed entries. There are still moments that can lean a bit tedious, but, by and large, this installment is filled with some truly entertaining stories that both make you laugh and unnerve you. Horror anthology fans are eating well with this one. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring an A/V presentation that is as good as the material will allow and a few cool special features. If you are a fan of the series, you will want to add this to your collection. Recommended
V/H/S/85 will be available to purchase on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on February 27, 2024.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.