'V/H/S/94' Movie Review

V/H/S/94 is the latest in the V/H/S found footage anthology series. In this entry, which takes place (of course) in 1994, a SWAT team is raiding an abandoned warehouse which formerly housed a cult, and they come across a collection of snuff films. Each of these tapes features a different tale of horror, and each of them were written and directed by different filmmakers. This gives each story their own unique aura.

The first segment, “Storm Drain”, was written and directed by relative newcomer Chloe Okuno. It follows a reporter (Anna Hopkins) and her cameraman (Christian Potenza) as they attempt to track down the legendary “Rat Man” in the city sewers. Is he real, or just an urban legend? This segment does a good job establishing the tone of the stories to come. It’s creepy and gruesome, but it’s not afraid to get campy and have some nice little tongue-in-cheek moments. It’s actually got a pretty clever misdirection that I really appreciated. It’s simple, but effective, which is yet another consistent element among these stories.

“The Empty Wake” is our second tale of analog terror, and it’s written and directed by Simon Barrett. In addition to writing You’re Next, The Guest, and Blair Witch (2016), all of which I like, he also contributed to the first two V/H/S films. This is segment, while probably the most low key of the bunch, is still a fun addition. A funeral home attendant (Kyal Leonard) is tasked with hosting a wake for a man named Andrew Edwards (Devin Chin-Cheong). Not only does nobody attend, the weather outside begins to get nasty, and blackouts start happening. Even worse, there seem to be strange noises coming from inside the casket. Again, this one is a bit less eventful, and probably the most conventional vignette of the film, but that doesn’t stop it from being effective. Barrett is a great writer, so the lack of action doesn’t cause it to suffer greatly in comparison to the rest of the film.

The third segment, which many are calling the best of the bunch, is called “The Subject”, written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. The story, which is shown entirely in POV through a body camera, is about a mad scientist (Budi Ross) creating crude cyborgs using captive human guinea pigs. We view it all from through the eyes of Subject 99. A SWAT team raids his “lab” and chaos ensues. This is easily the most kinetic segment in the entire movie. It’s the most action-heavy, and probably the most visually elaborate. It actually plays out sort of like a modern horror video game. The body horror is incredibly effective, and the gore is wonderfully excessive. Tjahjanto also co-directed a segment called “Safe Haven” in V/H/S/2, and that one is widely considered to be one of the best in the entire franchise. I’m glad to see that his sophomore contribution was another winner.

The final story is called “Terror” and is written and directed by Ryan Prows. It’s about a far-right militia group in Detroit that is planning to blow up a government facility using supernatural means. They’ve been siphoning blood from a man they are holding captive (Brendan McMurty-Howlett), and it seems that his blood explodes like napalm when exposed to sunlight. I’ll give you three guesses as to who/what their prisoner is. This is definitely the funniest vignette in the movie. The comic incompetence of these characters is very entertaining, and for me, it was very relatable. I’ve been around plenty of self-righteous, right-wing fanatics during my life, having grown up in the Bible Belt, and I was very amused by the unfortunate (and hilarious) accuracy on display. There is also a great bit of gruesome slapstick that happens about halfway through, following a major plot revelation, and I burst out laughing when that happened.

I really enjoy the first two V/H/S films. The third one, V/H/S Viral, kinda sucked, but V/H/S/94 truly feels like a return to form, and I think it might actually be the best one yet. It’s far more consistent than many other horror anthology films, and it never takes itself too seriously. It’s fun, plenty scary, and brimming with creativity. If you love the anthology horror format as much as I do, you’ll definitely have a good time.

SCORE: 4.5/5