Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pause and sample fierce anthology
Series’best is relentless viewing
V/H/S/94 DVD ●●●● ● Fittingly for an anthology series featuring efforts by a wide range of directors, the V/H/S/ flicks have been a mixed bag.
The fourth instalment in the franchise sees each segment set in 1994 and includes work from the writer of The Guest and Blair Witch 2016 ( Simon Barrett) and Watcher helmer Chloe Okuno.
As with previous series entries, there is a wraparound story piecing the narrative together – this time Jennifer Reeder’s Holy Hell.
It follows a SWAT team drug raid that develops into something far more sinister, and sets the tone for the purposefully grainy, rough footage which at times is hard on the eyes.
The first tale, Luca Lombardo and Levent Söylemez’s Storm Drain, is the best. The urban legend of Rat Man is told via a news team interviewing locals before heading into the cavernous darkness of the sewers.
It’s already creepy and unsettling and then a nasty, wonderfully created, creature turns up.
Second story, Barrett’s The Empty Wake, drags and is the weakest entry, although it closes with some excellent make-up and practical effects.
The Subject (written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto) is a demented mix of Frankenstein and Robocop.
A static camera follows the creation of something unnatural before we get Robocop-like point-of-view shots upon its ‘birth’.
From there it’s bloody and brutal all the way, reminiscent of Tjahjanto’s Safe Haven segment in V/H/S/2; however the most powerful images come from failed experiments left to rot.
Final story Terror ( Ryan Prows) focuses on gun- toting zealots who utilise amateurish propaganda and a destructive weapon steeped in supernatural folklore.
As entertaining as it is, by this stage there have been too many examples of groups under attack from a seemingly indestructible force.
Overall, though, V/H/S/94 is the best in the franchise thus far; unforgiving, relentless and fierce, it will track well with horror fans who won’t feel the need to fast-forward any footage.
Next week I will be putting V/H/S/85 under the microscope.
Pop me an email at ian.bunting@ reachplc.com and I will pass on your feedback on my reviews, or any movie or TV show recommendations you have, to your fellow readers.