‘V/H/S/Beyond’ Review – A Haunting Journey Into The Unknown

The V/H/S series of horror anthologies is like opening a box of haunted chocolates—you never quite know what you’re biting into. In just over a decade, the franchise has churned out seven main films, two spinoffs, and a handful of shorts, each offering its own flavor of horror. Some bites are bitter with dread, others strangely sweet with humor, and occasionally you’ll find yourself chewing on something downright weird. It’s a format that lets some of horror’s best filmmakers indulge in short, sharp shocks, giving each story a personal touch. But this strength can also be its curse, as the films often struggle to blend these wildly different pieces into a cohesive whole.

Not so with V/H/S/Beyond. This entry steps away from the familiar haunted houses and bloody corridors, aiming its lens toward the great unknown—outer space, alien life, and the fears that stretch far beyond the limits of our understanding. While previous installments might have felt like a jigsaw puzzle with mismatched pieces, this one is a tightly wound thread, pulling together a tapestry of sci-fi horror that explores what lies just beyond the reach of human comprehension.

The film opens with Jay Cheel’s A Special Presentation, a segment so eerily straight-faced that it feels less like a horror setup and more like a found-footage documentary, a window into a world where UFO sightings and alien encounters are terrifyingly ordinary. Cheel crafts his story with such sincerity that you might forget you’re watching a fictional piece—until the creeping dread settles in. It’s not just a tale about extraterrestrial phenomena; it’s a deep dive into the fragile notion of “truth.” In a digital age where anything can be manipulated, what does it mean to truly believe what we see?

The film’s subsequent stories unravel this question in unsettling, sometimes brutal ways. Jordan Downey’s Stork drops us into the chaotic reality of a body-cam police raid, a scene ripped from the headlines but twisted into something more sinister. This isn’t just a manhunt—it’s a hunt for something far beyond human understanding. Virat Pal’s Dream Girl shifts the setting to a Bollywood film set, where fame is far more than skin deep, and the pursuit of a star becomes a dangerous obsession. Then there’s Justin Martinez’s Live And Let Dive, which answers the question no one dared ask: what if aliens decided to attack while you were plummeting through the sky? It’s a breathless descent into chaos, where skydiving turns into an all-out war for survival.

Not to be outdone, Christian and Justin Long’s Fur Babies takes a darkly comedic turn, veering into the grotesque and absurd as it digs into the unsettling secrets hidden behind the doors of a pet boarding house. And Kate Siegel’s Stowaway slows things down, offering a lyrical, almost meditative reflection on one woman’s desperate search for truth—no matter how devastating the cost.

What makes V/H/S/Beyond stand apart from its predecessors is that there are no weak spots here, just variations in tone and style that add to the film’s richness. Dream Girl may lean more into tech horror than alien invasion, but its exploration of fame in an era when digital likenesses can be endlessly manipulated taps into a deeper, more existential fear. And Fur Babies, though more comedic, retains a dark undercurrent that echoes classic horror tropes like Frankenstein’s creation—twisting humanity in disturbing and oddly hilarious ways.

It’s these tonal shifts that give V/H/S/Beyond its unique texture, allowing each story to carve out its own space while still adhering to the film’s overarching themes. Cheel’s framing device, a pitch-perfect mockumentary, grounds the film in a world where the fantastic feels plausible, where the line between conspiracy and reality blurs into something unnerving. His final reveal is as haunting as it is unexpected, an image that lingers long after the screen fades to black.

Stork strikes with its Romero-inspired grit, blending the raw tension of a police raid with creature horror that makes you question just who—or what entity—holds the power in that house. And Live And Let Dive is a perfect storm of tension and terror, where Martinez amplifies the already heart-pounding thrill of skydiving into an all-out alien invasion nightmare. It’s the kind of segment built for midnight screenings, the audience squirming in their seats, screaming at just the right moments, only to break into nervous laughter as the lights come back up.

However, it’s Siegel’s Stowaway that truly resonates, leaving a haunting imprint. Co-written with her husband, Mike Flanagan, this segment masterfully weaves emotional resonance with cosmic horror. It transcends mere extraterrestrial encounters, delving into the profound sacrifices we make in our relentless quest for meaning. Here, the alien presence serves as a backdrop to a deeper human yearning, intensifying the horror as it ultimately manifests. When the chilling truth is finally unveiled, it strikes with a devastating weight, making the audience confront the depths of their own existential fears.

Each segment in V/H/S/Beyond feels like a piece of a darker puzzle, stitched together by an unsettling curiosity for what lurks beyond the boundaries of reality. It’s a film that dares its audience to search for proof, yet offers a chilling warning: the answers may be far more horrifying than the questions themselves

V/H/S/Beyond will debut exclusively on Shudder on October 4, 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1zNXVG6zTw