Director: Jay Cheel, Justin Long, Christian Long, Virat Pal, Kate Siegal and Justin Martinez
Screenplay: Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart, Christian Long, Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Ben Turner, Virat Pal, Evan Dickson, Mike Flanagan and Jay Cheel
Starring: Dane DiLiegro, Alanah Pearce, Mitch Horowitz
Country: United States and India
Running Time: 114 min
Year: 2024
When it comes to modern anthology horror franchises, there’s few that really have the following that the V/H/S films do. Starting in 2012 as a springboard for new filmmakers, produced in part by horror blog Bloody Disgusting, the film introduced the world to horror names such as Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine), Adam Wingard (You’re Next, The Guest, Godzilla vs. Kong), David Bruckner (The Ritual, Hellraiser) and Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream, Scream VI) and as the franchise continued, more icons would arrive on the scene. After an initial trilogy of films, ending with 2014’s reviled V/H/S Viral, the V/H/S franchise seemed dead in the water. Until 2021, when streaming service Shudder announced a new film, V/H/S 94.
94 was a huge success for the streamer, and since 2021, we’ve received yearly instalments for the franchise, continuing the trend of giving filmmakers around the world an opportunity to make a 20/30 minute short film in the V/H/S universe. Some of these are better than others, with 2023’s V/H/S 85 offering the most consistent effort yet, with some spectacular segments. When I heard news that last year’s V/H/S Beyond was getting a Blu-ray release, I was excited to check it out so I could be up to date with the franchise.
Beyond, similar to the previous few instalments has a gimmick surrounding it. While the previous Shudder entries have all focused on particular years, Beyond focuses on science-fiction horror for the first time. Aliens, UFOs, experimentation, etc. and it leads to one of the most interesting entries yet.
I won’t go into great detail about each segment, as the fun of these films is going along for the ride and seeing how nutty things get, but I’ll touch on each briefly. The wrap-around segment, directed by documentary filmmaker Jay Cheel (creator of Shudder’s Cursed Films) dives into conspiracies involving aliens and UFOs, and how people react to ‘proof’ that they exist. The segment is built upon throughout the course of Beyond’s runtime and while I wasn’t head over heels for it, the climax almost makes up for some of the less interesting sequences.
The first real segment is Stork, directed by ThanksKilling’s Jordan Downey and it’s a riot. Operating like a Resident Evil game, a series of police officers enter a house after a series of baby abductions and discover zombie-like creatures in the house. It’s an action-oriented segment, using the body cams of each officer as they explore the house and results in one cracked out finale that must be seen to be believed. An absolute riot and my personal favourite in the film.
Next up is Dream Girl, directed by newcomer Virat Pal and focuses on the fictional Indian pop singer and Bollywood star Tara, as well as a pair of paparazzi who attempt to infiltrate her dresser for an autograph. Before long, there’s revelations about Tara that I won’t spoil here but lead to a fairly chaotic final half that’s packed with great practical effects work.
Justin Martinez’s Live and Let Dive is our third segment, and initially, I was very frustrated by the dude-bro dialogue, introducing us to around ten characters who felt utterly insufferable, as they celebrate their friend’s 30th birthday with a sky-diving session. However, before long, they notice a UFO before they dive out and chaos ensues…all signs were pointing to this being the film’s worst segment but as soon as shit hits the fan, it leads to one of the most hilarious V/H/S segments I’ve ever seen, and it feels intentional. Aside from some really wonky visual effects that are totally unbelievable, this is easily the most mean-spirited V/H/S segment I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s clear that Martinez doesn’t like these characters either and uses each of them for some vile kills that are worth watching for. Another solid time.
Fur Babies is our fourth segment, directed by Christian and Justin Long (yes, that Justin Long) and it’s the first real dud of the film. It doesn’t utilise the science-fiction premise that’s been established by each segment before and follows some PETA-like group who are investigating a daycare center where the woman running it tends to taxidermy her dogs once they pass away. If you’ve seen Long in Tusk, you’ll know where this one’s going pretty quickly and it offers nothing new or original, while feeling incredibly amateurish to boot. A real disappointment.
Finally, we have Kate Siegel’s Stowaway. For those unfamiliar, Siegel is the wife of horror-director Mike Flanagan, who actually wrote this segment and follows a documentary filmmaker who’s looking for alien life in the Mojave Desert. If you watched 2023’s The Outwaters, this isn’t going to feel like anything new but what makes it worth a watch is the fairly solid sound design and surrealist visuals as the segment goes along. By no means one of my favourite V/H/S segments, but it’s not awful.
All in all, V/H/S Beyond features some of my favourite segments in the franchise’s history, but it’s also let down by some fairly underwhelming and redundant ones that feel completely out of place. If you’re a die-hard V/H/S fan, you’ll have probably seen this already but if you’re curious on seeing the series explore a different side of horror, it’s worth a watch for the great segments like Stork and Live and Let Dive.
Film: 
V/H/S Beyond released February 10th on Blu-ray and DVD via Acorn Media/Shudder in the UK. I was sent a retail copy of the Blu-ray to cover. The release itself is a standard Blu-ray case, featuring the artwork highlighted at the start of this review. If you own any other Shudder titles here, you know what to expect. The transfer’s interesting, because there’s so many filters thrown on each segment to create the found-footage look that it’s no visual showcase for the format, but does a decent job at transferring the film onto home media. On the audio side of things, there’s one track: English DTS-HD 5.1 MA and it sounds great. It can change depending on how each segment is mixed, but the track sounded really solid to me. Optional English subtitles are also included. The following extras are included:
Pre-Visuals on Live and Let Dive
Libby Betlow Fur Babies Audition Tape
Do You Want a Selfie? The Making of Dream Girl
Behind the Scenes Photo Galleries for Live and Let Dive, Dream Girl, Stork and Stowaway
Behind the Scenes of Stork with IGN
Stowaway Set Timelapse
Compared to a lot of Shudder releases, V/H/S Beyond is packed with bonus features for virtually every single segment of the film.
The pre-visual effects sequence for Live and Let Die highlights the process of the skydiving sequence before the visual effects were incorporated. It’s a minute long and a neat watch.
Libby Betlow’s Fur Babies audition lasts for five minutes and features her acting out one of her first scenes in the film’s sequence in her own home. It’s a fun watch and even as someone who didn’t care for the short, it’s a nice watch.
Do You Want a Selfie? The Making of Dream Girl is the best extra on the entire disc, running for 17 minutes and highlighting the entire process of creating the film. There’s footage as they create and record the sequence’s song Goddess, a look at the practical effects work, choreographing the dance sequence for the music video and preparing for the shoot. It’s a delightful watch and highlights the artistry that went into the segment. A great, essential watch.
The photo galleries are fascinating to look through, and worth checking out for fans.
The IGN behind the scenes featurette for Stork is another good extra, running for 8 minutes and highlighting the last day of production. Highlighting the practical nature of the segment’s monster, the original influence for Stork and more.
Finally, the Stowaway timelapse is a five minute piece highlighting the process of creating the sets used in the segment. It’s a great behind-the-scenes peek at the craft on display.
While V/H/S Beyond isn’t my favourite entry in the franchise, it’s up there as one of the most consistently entertaining and Shudder’s Blu-ray release offers fans a great array of extras to sink their teeth into. Opinions may vary on the film, but I found it to (mostly) be a good time and recommend it to horror fans.
Disc/Packaging:
