The V/H/S series has always been incredibly hit or miss. The first one, V/H/S, was interesting in that a lot of the shorts challenged (at the time) what the idea of found footage could be and used unconventional cameras (glasses cam, webcam, etc) to provide a different perspective on what a horror film was. While interesting, it didn't always work in practice as those segments had myriad issues (too slow, too much filler, too much obnoxious camera glitching, etc) which kept them from being all that good or entertaining. Thankfully V/H/S 2 significantly improved the formula, and it is still imo the best of the bunch. Things sadly took a nosedive in the highly forgettable V/H/S: Viral, but I'm happy to say that they've rebounded in the 4th offering and V/H/S94 is more or less good all around.
Wraparound story - "Holy Hell" - the idea of this one is really cool, with a SWAT team going into the abandoned compound of a death cult. Unfortunately this is one of the weakest segments due to the extremely poor film quality, cheap effects, and some of the worst acting I've ever seen committed to film which manages to get worse the longer the segment goes on. I would've liked to see a more expanded story as it definitely had potential, but I feel like I never had any idea what they were supposed to be doing.
"Storm Drain" - this one starts off kind of slow and between that and the lame wraparound intro, I was thinking this whole anthology would be a bust. However, this one gets significantly better as it goes along and ends up being pretty good. The sewers provide interesting, dark, and very creepy atmosphere-- vaguely reminiscent of As Above, So Below. This very much feels like what you'd expect from a found footage vhs horror film and I think nails what the series is all about.
"The Empty Wake" - this one also starts off slow as well, most of it is a lady sitting around at a somewhat unsettling wake, but it gets pretty good when it picks up. It's rather short and you get almost nothing in the way of story or development, but there are some cool visuals & gore, and it's suitably creepy.
"The Subject" - holy crap, this one is absolutely INCREDIBLE. This is by far the longest and most detailed of any of the segments, and the film quality is a lot better than everything else. The Subject is on par with "Safe Haven" from v/h/s 2 (the indonesian death cult one) as undoubtedly the best of the entire series...which makes sense as it turns out that the writer/director Timo Tjahjanto also wrote Safe Haven (along with The Raid's Gareth Evans). You get a mad scientist turning people into robots whose secret lab gets raided by the police - lots of really good body horror, violence, and gore. This one gets a little cheesy and video game-y at times, but overall it's incredible - very engaging and well made. Also, by far the least likely to have ever been transferred to a vhs tape lol.
"Terror" - this one had potential, but never fully realized it. You have a group of extremist militia guys who have some kind of secret weapon and are going to attack a federal building. I found this to be entertaining; it was realistic enough while also being suitably tongue-in-cheek. It had a decent build up, but it kind of fizzled out before ever hitting a satisfying crescendo. I think this one needed more time to develop the story and it could have been significantly better; once the "action" starts, it feels like they kind of rushed to end it which leaves you feeling like "oh...that's it?". I will say that this one felt very "vhs-y" and definitely nailed the vibe of what this whole series is about, however it's still the weakest segment other than the wraparound.
Overall, this is an enjoyable anthology. It offers one of, if not the, best segments of the entire film series, and 3 other segments ranging from decent to pretty good. And while the wraparound was quite weak (and generally they always are), it had a couple redeeming qualities. These found footage films aren't for every horror fan, but if that's your thing than it's definitely worth a watch and it's definitely better than VHS: Viral.
V/H/S/94
2021
Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
V/H/S/94
2021
Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
After the discovery of a mysterious VHS tape, a brutish police SWAT team launches a high-intensity raid on a remote warehouse, only to discover a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 11, 2022 at 02:20 AM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
A pretty solid entry in the V/H/S series
My favorite one since V/H/S 2!
I don't get the hate for this movie. If people don't like this V/H/S then they should hate every V/H/S and at that point why are you watching them? This movie was tons of fun and the mixed cyborg people one was so great! Also the sewer one was super cool too watch. Honestly there wasn't a bad short in this entire movie but some were surely more memorable than others. The only V/H/S I haven't enjoyed is Viral but this movie makes up for it and shows why they continue the series. I can't wait for the next V/H/S if this is the quality they are putting out. If you like V/H/S you will enjoy watching this one late at night on a big TV! Have fun!
Better then expected
When this film first came out it was getting bashed by user critics. I think it had a 3.6 rating when I first looked at the IMDB page. After watching the trailer I decided to pass on watching it all together. Then last night I saw a post on someone's Instagram of a lady interviewing a dirty homeless man down in the sewers. After doing a little research I realized it was a scene from V/H/S/94. It definitely sparked some interest so I decided to give this film a shot. I'm glad I did. The film was actually really good. The first 3 stories were great. Especially The Ratman part of the film. I didn't really care for the militia/vampire sequence but overall the film is definitely worth a watch. It's not the best in the series but it's definitely the bloodiest. 6 stars.