Once upon a time, anthology horrors were fairly common. During the 1960s and 1970s, the British production company Amicus made a number of much-loved portmanteau films. The likes of Tales from the Crypt, Torture Garden and From Beyond the Grave proved to be very popular. While the Creepshow collections in the 1980s caught the imagination it was the arrival of V/H/S in 2012 that sparked a new resurgence in interest. W/H/S/94 is the fourth outing in the series.
The latest instalment of the franchise features a number of talented filmmakers. Those involved this time round are Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes for us), Jennifer Reeder (Knives & Skin), Simon Barrett (Séance), Ryan Prows (Lowlife) and Chloe Okuno (Slut). After the discovery of a video tape which contains brutal events, a SWAT team converges on a remote warehouse to investigate. All hell breaks loose.
As is normally the case with anthologies, V/H/S/94 is a mixed bag. By far an away the best segment is Tjahjanto’s ‘The Subject’, which takes its cues from video games; hitting all the right notes and certainly delivering on body count. In ‘The Wake’ a new employee is in for a long night. Barrett plays with genre conventions to make a film which is both clever and beautifully executed. While all the other portions have their moment. V/H/S/94 marks a step-up for the found footage phenomenon.
V/H/S/94 premieres on Shudder on 6 October.
