The latest installment on the long-running V/H/S franchise is... fine. I'm simultaneously disappointed and satisfied as a fan. Before going through individual segments one by one, let me sum up the overall experience with the film. V/H/S/85 is filled with interesting ideas. Even some of the weaker segments contains/starts out with intriguing hook, setting, concepts etc. Obviously some segments are executed better than others, as expected from an anthology horror film. But my biggest issue, which holds true with almost all of them, is that they are quite underwhelming with regards to scare and tension. While I was engaged throughout and often was surprised and admired the way storylines converged/tied up the loose ends, I barely felt any tension or sense of terror and dread. It made me want to watch better horror films that excelled in those aspects. This is why I'm so mixed on this one despite leaving the film with positive taste in my mouth. It would have gotten so much lower rating if it weren't for some fantastic reveals and a great segment. Overall, I'd say this is around the same level as V/H/S/99. I still want to see more V/H/S films since there aren't any (successful) found footage-horror-anthology hybrid franchises, but I sincerely wish the next outing doesn't forget to make things actually scary. Oh, and I went into the film completely blind; and everyone should!
Total Copy While not as strong as Bruckner's previous entry in the V/H/S franchise 11 years ago, this worked pretty well as a wrap-around frame narrative. The fact that this story was split in 5 or 6 parts in between other segments worked in the segment's favor, making this a nice break/treat between other stories. The visual aesthetic and tonal vibe of "80s scientists conducting research on a mysterious being" was a delight. However, I still wished they went back to the "a group of people discover a bunch of disturbing tapes" frame narrative of the first two films.
No Wake As I got invested in the characters and the story, it raised questions such as; who was the shooter & wtf is with the water and what would the survivors do? And then it just ... ended? It was very off-putting and disappointing for something with this much intrigue and potential. But this was before I knew how it would come back later....
God of Death Perhaps the weakest segment. I appreciated the choice to include non-english horror segment, but the actual divinity/ritual scenes and the gore were pretty silly and over-the-top.
TKNOGD Loved the Tron-ish visual design of the digital world. The idea of a 'Tech God' being summoned via a digital/cyber ritual and wrecking havoc sounds fun. However, the location being limited to a single stage was detrimental in realizing its full potential. Still not bad tho. Loved the gore effect.
Ambrosia Had no idea where this would go, but as the "VII" sign appeared, finding out how this connects to the first segment was so cool and fun. The whiplash I got realizing the purpose of the 'Water Gun".... This was something haven't done in the franchise and I'd love to see more fresh structures like this. The primary reason why you should go into this film blind.
DreamKill I knew this was directed by Derrickson before going in, but even if I wasn't aware of his involvement beforehand, I think I still would've recognized Derrickson's vision and touch behind the camera. His signature usage of grainy/creppy footage, concepts regarding dreams and visions are all present. And they take more ominous and dark route/vibes - not only is it a lot more violent than average Derrickson film, at moments it reminded me of Skinamarink from earlier this year. The Black Phone reference made me soy out - even though I didn't really like that movie! Dreamkill was definitely one of the strongest segments in not only this film, but among the entire franchise. Don't really have any complaints with this one. I think I grew to like Derrickson as a filmmaker more.
Suggestions for the next V/H/S entry: it would be cool to explore the early 2000s / 21st Century; V/H/S/04 or 05 would be cool.
Or just come back to the modern era.
Total Copy While not as strong as Bruckner's previous entry in the V/H/S franchise 11 years ago, this worked pretty well as a wrap-around frame narrative. The fact that this story was split in 5 or 6 parts in between other segments worked in the segment's favor, making this a nice break/treat between other stories. The visual aesthetic and tonal vibe of "80s scientists conducting research on a mysterious being" was a delight. However, I still wished they went back to the "a group of people discover a bunch of disturbing tapes" frame narrative of the first two films.
No Wake As I got invested in the characters and the story, it raised questions such as; who was the shooter & wtf is with the water and what would the survivors do? And then it just ... ended? It was very off-putting and disappointing for something with this much intrigue and potential. But this was before I knew how it would come back later....
God of Death Perhaps the weakest segment. I appreciated the choice to include non-english horror segment, but the actual divinity/ritual scenes and the gore were pretty silly and over-the-top.
TKNOGD Loved the Tron-ish visual design of the digital world. The idea of a 'Tech God' being summoned via a digital/cyber ritual and wrecking havoc sounds fun. However, the location being limited to a single stage was detrimental in realizing its full potential. Still not bad tho. Loved the gore effect.
Ambrosia Had no idea where this would go, but as the "VII" sign appeared, finding out how this connects to the first segment was so cool and fun. The whiplash I got realizing the purpose of the 'Water Gun".... This was something haven't done in the franchise and I'd love to see more fresh structures like this. The primary reason why you should go into this film blind.
DreamKill I knew this was directed by Derrickson before going in, but even if I wasn't aware of his involvement beforehand, I think I still would've recognized Derrickson's vision and touch behind the camera. His signature usage of grainy/creppy footage, concepts regarding dreams and visions are all present. And they take more ominous and dark route/vibes - not only is it a lot more violent than average Derrickson film, at moments it reminded me of Skinamarink from earlier this year. The Black Phone reference made me soy out - even though I didn't really like that movie! Dreamkill was definitely one of the strongest segments in not only this film, but among the entire franchise. Don't really have any complaints with this one. I think I grew to like Derrickson as a filmmaker more.
Suggestions for the next V/H/S entry: it would be cool to explore the early 2000s / 21st Century; V/H/S/04 or 05 would be cool.
Or just come back to the modern era.