'V/H/S/ Beyond' Spoiler-Free Review

TV & Film

Oct 6

The newest installment in the V/H/S/ franchise has officially arrived on Shudder. This is the seventh installment, and fans of the franchise can get excited because it is a pretty solid entry. The film is broken up into multiple installments and features the directorial debut of modern-day scream queen Kate Siegel. This film is not for the faint of heart, and it features tons of gore, making it the perfect thing to get you in the spooky season vibe.

This is the first V/H/S/ film that I have seen in its entirety, and it was a wild ride, to say the least. It is broken up into five segments, each one dealing with aliens in some way. While the film had a fairly low budget, the special effects are fantastic. In the first segment, Stork, we see a group of police officers come into contact with beings that almost resemble zombies, but not quite. Unlike most other lower-budget horror films, this one does not shy away from getting right in the faces of the villains, and it is difficult to tell what is makeup and what the actor is. The second segment is similar in that you get up close and personal with the characters, and the effects are simply perfect. My favorite segment is Stowaway, which was written by Mike Flanaganand directed by Kate Siegel. Not only did this segment make me feel the most unsettled, but it was the only one that really felt like you were watching a VHS tape. The other segments were high quality, and while they wanted you to believe you were watching a VHS tape, it just didn’t translate well. I also loved how each segment was broken up by interviews with actual UFO enthusiasts and scholars. The documentary vibe was so believable that my husband did not realize I was watching a horror film at first.

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While most of this film was amazing, I do have to talk about the segment that really pulled me out of the film. Justin Long’s Fur Babies segment was uncomfortable, but it also did not fit with the theme of the film. Every other segment focused on extraterrestrial beings, but this segment was just a crazy human doing disgusting experiments on humans. This would fit perfectly within a horror anthology, just not one that has such a specific theme. Unfortunately, this segment was so jarring that it completely ruined the vibe of the film, and if it had been the final segment, I don’t think I could have given a good review.

Overall the film is a lot of fun. Even though one segment messed up the flow of the anthology, Siegel’s finale will make you forget about the horrible thing you just watched. The gore and effects in this film are perfectly done, and the costume department deserves a raise for their incredible work. There was a lot of body horror in this, which I’m not typically a fan of, but in this case, it actually worked really well.

You can stream V/H/S/ Beyond on Shudder.

Rating: 7.5/10

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