Franchise still able to focus on fear
V/H/S/85 DVD ●●●●● Contributing to this instalment of the found-footage anthology are The Ritual and Hellraiser 2022 helmer David Bruckner and Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister and The Black Phone.
For the first time in the series the wraparound story – Bruckner’s Total Copy – has no real link to the playing of videos which, to be fair, is an element I have felt has been unnecessary since the first flick.
Total Copy is a documentary about a team of university scientists studying a shapeshifting being they name “Rory”.
It’s all a little underwhelming, with the highlight being Jordan Belfi’s oblivious, uncaring Dr Spratling.
Wrong Turn remake director Mike P. Nelson’s No Wake starts out as a familiar tale of a group of friends heading on a trip to the lake before delivering the most dangerous water since Jaws’ Amity Island and gross flesh-destroying wounds.
Gigi Saul Guerrero’s entertaining God Tracking trouble for uneven series entry of Death segment has a spiky Mexican news crew caught up in the epicentre of a collapsing building – and it goes to a place you would never imagine.
The weakest entry is Natasha Kermani’s TKNOGD. Centred on a onewoman performance art stage show comprising mostly of anti-technology rants, it’s self-indulgent and dawdles along to a one-note punchline.
I liked how segment Ambrosia (also helmed by P. Nelson) linked to No Wake with a twisted coming-of-age and family tradition story featuring cool moments like a video-within-a-video and a police raid that ends in the worst possible way for the entry’s main antagonist.
The final offering, Dreamkill by Derrickson, has the best atmosphere and feels like it could be developed into a feature-length flick.
Derrickson utilises the same Super 8 shooting style and creepy off-kilter sound design he used for the horrible home videos in Sinister, while there is a neat link to The Black Phone.
His story plays with time, and the police procedural movie, and showcases Derrickson’s son Dashiell (Gunther) as its young lead.
Calmer and less intense than V/H/S/94, V/H/S/85 is an easier but less interesting watch as a result.
●What are your favourite anthology-style flicks? Pop me an email at ian. bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.