Review Category: Movie

When it comes to the found footage, horror-driven anthology-based V/H/S franchise, somewhat inevitably for a series so defined by its diverse pick n’ mix of stories, the results have been a real mix. We have had the good, the bad, and the ugly. The highs, the lows, and the in-between. And in this recent very healthy new Shudder released streaming era for the series, V/H/S/85 seriously challenges V/H/S/94 as the best entry in the franchise altogether.

The framing narrative ‘Total Copy’ (directed by David Bruckner) concerns scientists studying a young subject named ‘Rory’. Off the back of this, we have five segments in all (well, technically four, as one is essentially a two-parter); ‘No Wake’ and ‘Ambrosia’ (by Mike P. Nelson), the first concerning a group of young friends on a lake getaway, the second looking at an unusual family gathering. ‘God of Death’ (by Gigi Saul Guerrero) sees a Mexican news crew hit by a devastating event. ‘TKNOGD’ (by Natasha Kermani) sees a stage performance hit a tech nightmare. Then, finally, we have ‘Dreamkill’ (by Scott Derrickson), as a series of brutal taped crimes lead the police to a mind-shattering conclusion.

These found-footage horror tales never cease to be bizarre, gruesome, or intriguing, but V/H/S/85 has to be the most collectively interesting instalment in the franchise. All the segments range from entertaining to outstanding, with influences as wide as John Carpenter’s The Thing, Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s REC, and Stieg Larsson, as well as real crimes like The Night Stalker spree. 

More impressive, though, is the framing. For years now, atypically, these films have been impacted by the story off of which the many segments jump, but here, this wraparound story of sorts, that these segments are “taped over”, is the best frame narrative story this series has ever had, ending with one heck of a lunatic final image and mic drop of a closing credits track! 

Despite the fun results throughout, not every aspect comes off smoothly, and one or two segments have a moment that jars a little, but overall the quality is massively consistent, and any minor flaws hardly halt the gory fun and thrills offered. Natasha Kermani’s ‘TKNOGD’ is very cool in its execution, and Scott Derrickson’s (apparently Black Phone universe set) ‘Dreamkill’ is marvellous and arguably the pick of the bunch. 

As ever with this series, it’s not for everyone, of course, and some hoping for the deadly serious may come away a bit irked, but if you tap into V/H/S/85‘s very distinctive and psychotic wavelength, it’s a bloody blast from beginning to end. Please, Shudder, can you release one of these every year now because the consistent quality and varied stories are really becoming a regular Halloween treat to savour!

V/H/S/85 is a great, nasty, barmy mixtape of pure ‘80s chaos that you won’t want to skip!

V/H/S/85 arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on March 4th

Taking a rest stop at a diner in the Canadian Rockies, David (Allen Leech) finds himself out in the cold when he comes between waitress Ana (Nina Bergman) and her violent ex (Yan Tual). Later stuck on the road together with a terrible injury and the billowing snow, Ana and David suddenly face a terrifying fight for survival. The last thing they need is some manner of beastie banging on the window, but that’s what they have on their hands here (plus frostbite).

Director Sébastien Drouin helms this icy survival thriller – a tense game of cat-and-mouse between hunter and prey… and then back again, as the tables turn to and fro. Beyond its table-setting opening sequence, Drouin locks the (car) doors and hunkers down to a single setting that’s both isolated and claustrophobic. The trapped-in-a-bad-place thriller is nothing new, but Drouin and co-writers James Kermack and Andrew Desmond find plenty of ways to reinvent the wheel. It’s a unique take on the subgenre, served well by the sharply observed interplay between its leads.

As the temperature drops and the pair’s situation becomes more perilous, Cold Meat impresses with its bleak plot twists and ever-building sense of dread and danger – but the thing which really stands out is the characters, brought to life with terrific performances from Bergman and Leech. A shining example of the snowbound survival thriller.

COLD MEAT is out now on digital platforms. 

A bonfire night house viewing becomes deadly when Jack (Andrew Lee Potts) and Lena (Eloise Lovell Anderson) are not prospective buyers but hardened criminals. They take the estate agent, Matilda (Katie Sheridan), hostage as they search the place for a safe containing something of value to them. Using the fireworks exploding all around as cover, they have to demolish a wall to get to what they want. However, things don’t go as smoothly as they planned.

Andrew Lee Potts’ feature directorial debut is a tense and gripping crime thriller. He doesn’t try to make it as flashy as Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (a comparison to which is unavoidable given the appearance of Jason Flemyng and Nick Moran). However, he manages to make a despicable bad guy likeable and adds elements of humour that don’t overpower the drama. Fans of Potts will recognise his wry style, but ultimately, his character is a nasty piece of work, and he definitely doesn’t hold back. Likewise, Anderson and Sheridan are fantastic in their respective roles. The former excels at projecting a hard-as-nails demeanour, while the latter has a resilient, if vulnerable, composure when put in a terrifying predicament. The chemistry between the trio brings extra tension to the situation. Predominantly set within the one house, Potts utilises as much of the location as possible and creates a palpable nervous energy in scenes where the villains might get caught, with some shots straight from the Hitchcock playbook (and that’s a good thing!).

Potts has been cutting his directing teeth on shorts for many years, particularly with Kindred and the superb web series Wireless, and this venture into feature-length filmmaking shows he has the eye for crafting engaging, fresh movies and appears to be as comfortable behind the camera as he is in front.

FIRECRACKER is available in select cinemas and on demand in the US and can be rented or bought on digital platforms in the UK.

A group of women become trapped underground following the events of a bachelorette party gone wrong (someone puked in the taxi). Adrift in a subterranean bunker complex, the friends battle for survival as an ancient Nazi curse takes hold… if they can stop bickering first.

This found footage film by director Lars Janssen has an intriguing hook, even if it is one that has been done many times before (and never better than Neil Marshall’s The Descent). Unfortunately, it takes too long to get there and, once it does reach its destination, spends far too much of its time on drunken arguing between friends.

Even the found footage element adds little, being too clean and tidy for the story being told. Where the film works best is in its earliest interactions between the women and a chauvinist ass on the street and as they try on dresses in the film’s opening sequence. The rest feels either dragged out (a scene in a taxi keeps going long after they should have been kicked out for the first time) or incomplete. What few chills there are come second to scenes of the women sitting around grumbling or wandering around, also grumbling. Its central threat, meanwhile, goes underutilised and without proper definition.

Underground has its bright spots, but it’s a largely wasted opportunity which doesn’t take its ideas nearly far enough. As before, so again.

UNDERGROUND is available on digital platforms from February 26th.

Rambling through the desert, a photographer, Wyndham Stone (Scott Haze), stumbles across a young boy claiming to have lost his parents. Attempting to do the right thing, Stone himself becomes lost and, as the sun falls, happens across an isolated shack at the bottom of a deep ravine.

Logic and common sense be damned (someone clearly hasn’t seen Wrong Turn), Stone knocks on the door of this tin hut and meets Alina (Kate Lyn Sheil). Before you know it, he’s been coerced into staying the night and, the next morning, discovers that the ladder out of this pit has disappeared. As the situation continues to tumble downhill, Stone is tormented by a gang of sadistic boys who do things like piss on his face, destroy his vegetable patch, and spit in his general direction. Alina, meanwhile, seems worryingly unconcerned by the whole situation.

Anyone who has seen the 1964 film Woman in the Dunes (upon which Barnaby Clay’s The Seeding is very much based) can see where all of this is headed. A slow-burn crossbreed of The Hills Have Eyes, 127 Hours, and Aronofsky’s Mother!, this arthouse horror story wears its metaphor on its sleeve (and in the title). Stone’s fate is well-telegraphed – but much of the tension is in the inevitability of his situation and the hurdles he has to leap through in plotting an escape.

Instead, the film is content to bask in its striking cinematography and grotesque imagery, letting the looming, imposing peaks of the Utah desert do much of the work while strong performances paper over any cracks in logic.

The Seeding is a haunting work of folk horror that is well-cultivated and nurtured to the bitter, inevitable end.

THE SEEDING is out on digital from February 12th 2024.