V/H/S/85 is the sixth (!) instalment of the V/H/S franchise, but it’s managed to do something new. Usually, the format is a few short found footage segments loosely tied together by a wrap-around story that takes us from one to the next. At its core, that’s what V/H/S/85 does too, but it’s the first in the series that takes the found footage element to a more metacontextual level. It’s presented as if we could have just popped a video in and found all of this ourselves on one single tape.
It seems like a small detail because it is, but it has such a big impact. It seems to be a trend in the franchise’s more recent instalments that a lot of care and attention goes into crafting an experience — it feels as if we’re encouraged to live in a different time for an hour and a half. V/H/S/85, partly because of its slightly novel take on the format, is probably the most successful at transporting us there.
The overarching narrative this time is a made-for-TV documentary that’s been recorded over again and again — digitally inserted tracking lines have become a staple of the series but this time they seem quite authentic. The subject of the documentary is a shapeshifting being they call Rory, and essentially researchers at a university are force-feeding him popular culture through a CRT television — that’s how we get from one segment to the next.
The standout segment is ‘God of Death’ from series debutant Gigi Saul Guerrero. Although this is her first V/H/S short she’s no stranger to horror anthology films, having directed a segment for ABC’s of Death 2½ previously. It’s also no surprise that she cites Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino as two of her cinematic inspirations, as it wouldn’t look out of place alongside other films that, in one way or another, started life as part of Grindhouse. Following a Mexican News Reporter (Guerrero herself) into the unknown, it’s a simple story about satanic possession and ritual sacrifice that lives and dies on the strength of its over-the-top practical effects and inherent ability to make us wince.
‘No Wake’ and ‘Ambrosia’ are also noteworthy segments, partly due to the work of another series newcomer, Mike P. Nelson. Both segments feature the horror tropes that we expect from an ‘80s callback – teenagers at a lake, the word “Evil” implied on a signpost, and a dysfunctional suburban family among others. Where ‘God of Death’ almost transcends V/H/S/85, though, there’s a feeling that these are the two segments that entirely understood and executed the brief — they’re ridiculous, fiercely independent (the same cast appears in both), and they provide a platform for a relatively inexperienced director to show off some artistic flare.
The core audience that exists for V/H/S/85 will no doubt be pleased by this instalment. It does all the things we’ve come to expect from the franchise — it creates a nostalgic environment for us to settle into and then it does its best to gross us out once we’re there, and it platforms some lesser-known filmmakers on the way. Strictly in the context of the V/H/S films that came before it, it’s certainly one of the strongest in terms of satisfying the reasons we keep coming back.
V/H/S/85 releases in the UK on March 1st
