V/H/S/Beyond (2024)
October 5, 2024 3:01 PM - Subscribe
Six bloodcurdling tapes unleash horror in a sci-fi inspired hellscape, pushing the boundaries of fear and suspense. Now streaming on Shudder.
OK we finished. I watched this as part of an online watch party, and everyone really enjoyed it. Our only question was: here is the alien element in the dog lady story? We were chatting while watching but no one caught anything alien in that one.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:21 PM on October 5, 2024
posted by miss-lapin at 8:21 PM on October 5, 2024
I thought this was above average for the franchise, which has had a few stinkers in the last few years. My favorite was the skydiving segment, for the way that it relentlessly piles up bad stuff on top of other bad stuff. I really liked the feel of the last segment too ("Stowaway"?), but the VHS filter was so extreme on it that I often couldn't make out what the hell was going on on screen. And I agree that the dog lady bit didn't really have an obvious sci-fi hook, though I did enjoy it as a kind of Dr Moreau in reverse (possibly they included that segment for the box-office draw of director Justin Long?). The first segment had an interestingly unsual monster in it, but I have to say that watching POV shots of dudes running around a house blowing away zombies kind of bores me to tears by now. Still, overall I liked this.
posted by whir at 9:22 AM on October 7, 2024
posted by whir at 9:22 AM on October 7, 2024
Dr Moreau is definitely a sci-fi thing, though!
I really liked this one- there's not a dud in the whole batch. So far as the series goes I'd say:
2 > 1 ~ Beyond ~ 94 > 85 ~ 99 >>>>>>>>> Viral
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:09 AM on October 7, 2024 [2 favorites]
I really liked this one- there's not a dud in the whole batch. So far as the series goes I'd say:
2 > 1 ~ Beyond ~ 94 > 85 ~ 99 >>>>>>>>> Viral
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:09 AM on October 7, 2024 [2 favorites]
Definitely turns around the pretty meh trend of recent V/H/Ses.
I think Stowaway was my favourite -- I actually liked the kind of unfocused zoom-out 'ambient' segments folded into it -- followed by Live and Let Dive. After that, as much as I enjoyed Tumbbad, the Bollywood Robot story was just okay, the dog kennel bit was good body horror but didn't really grip me (I had no idea Justin Long was involved!). The wrapping story wasn't great, and I think just an excuse to get some fun people in there.
And maybe Our Modern Times have got me tuned a bit too high for this stuff, but anything with the premise "the cops have formed a secret society within the police that hunt down and eliminate things they deem threats" just doesn't sit right with me. I couldn't help but watch it with the constant feeling that this is identical energy that they'd bring to kicking in a door and shooting a woman because they got an address mixed up, or blowing away a bunch of protestors for being on private property. It just really icked me out.
As far as I can tell, the wrapping story was aliens, as were the copaganda, Stowaway and Live and Let Dive. The Bollywood story was a robot, I think, and the kennel lady was just a nut. But I didn't even know about the theoretical theme, so nothing really affected my enjoyment. I can see how people would be let down if this was supposed to be all aliens, all the time, though.
posted by Shepherd at 5:39 PM on October 20, 2024
I think Stowaway was my favourite -- I actually liked the kind of unfocused zoom-out 'ambient' segments folded into it -- followed by Live and Let Dive. After that, as much as I enjoyed Tumbbad, the Bollywood Robot story was just okay, the dog kennel bit was good body horror but didn't really grip me (I had no idea Justin Long was involved!). The wrapping story wasn't great, and I think just an excuse to get some fun people in there.
And maybe Our Modern Times have got me tuned a bit too high for this stuff, but anything with the premise "the cops have formed a secret society within the police that hunt down and eliminate things they deem threats" just doesn't sit right with me. I couldn't help but watch it with the constant feeling that this is identical energy that they'd bring to kicking in a door and shooting a woman because they got an address mixed up, or blowing away a bunch of protestors for being on private property. It just really icked me out.
As far as I can tell, the wrapping story was aliens, as were the copaganda, Stowaway and Live and Let Dive. The Bollywood story was a robot, I think, and the kennel lady was just a nut. But I didn't even know about the theoretical theme, so nothing really affected my enjoyment. I can see how people would be let down if this was supposed to be all aliens, all the time, though.
posted by Shepherd at 5:39 PM on October 20, 2024
Subtitles and shaky-cam is a bad combination.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:41 AM on October 21, 2024
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:41 AM on October 21, 2024
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by miss-lapin at 7:42 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]