V/H/S/99 (Shudder) Review

3 star enjoyably nostalgic and gory horror anthology.

V/H/S/99 is an American found footage horror anthology film. It is the fifth instalment in the popular V/H/S/ series of films.

Featuring five short segments, each produced by a different team, it is a Shudder Oiriginal film available exclusively on their streaming service from 20th October 2022.

“I think America’s got, like, a rage revolution on the way. Everyone’s just so mad.”

The various parts of the film are linked together by a home video montage put together by a teenage boy, featuring his toy soldier collection in a series of increasingly more compromising situations anfd this acts as the glue to hold it together until we get to the fourth segment when the stories intertwine.

The first segment (and probably the weakest) is Shredding, written and directed by Maggie Levin (Miss 2059) which is the very loud story of a Punk band called R.A.C.K. They like to film themselves Jackass style and this particular tape documents one of their adventures. They decide to visit the Colony Underground Club, where a previous band named Bitch Cat were trampled to death by their audience during a fire. We can all see where this is going.

Next up is Suicide Bid, written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Metres Down) which tells us the story of Lily (Ally Ioannides), a lonely college freshman who puts all her eggs in one basket to join the sorority of her choice, only to find out they are all horrible people, who play a terrible prank on her.

The third section (and my favourite) is Ozzy’s Dungeon, written and directed by Flying Lotus (Kuso). This is the tale of a childrens TV show, with a dark and dangerous  edge to it. When one of the children taking part is seriously injured, her family take matters into their own hands, kidnapping the Host (Steven Ogg – Grand Theft Auto V, The Walking Dead) and giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Next up we have The Gawkers, written and directed by Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls) which is essentially a cautionary tale about a group of sexually charged up teenage boys who get more than they bargained for when they spy on the girl next door, Sandra (Emily Sweet -Hostage House, Castle Freak).

Last but by no means least is To Hell and Back, written and directed by Joseph and Vanessa Winters (Deadstream). As the new millenium approaches, two filmmakers decide to film a ritual to summon a demon but find themselves getting a bit too up close and personal with the action.

“Aw dammit, he’s dead. I really thought he was gonna make it. Alright, no-one else get bitten in half by the rat monster.”

V/H/S/99 is an entertaining anthology which fits nicely into the series and this time it seems all the contributors understood the brief. All of the segments felt of the era and captured the social unrest and general anger of the period really well.

Although a couple of the segments don’t really have much to say, others are really good and pick up the slack. Ozzy’s Dungeon was very reminiscent of a lot of the shows I have watched over the years (without the violence obviously). Some of the special effects are a little dodgy (see the spiders in Suicide Bid) but then offset by great practical effects (again Suicide Bid, as well as To Hell and Back).

Overall a good addition to the franchise and well worth persevering through R.A.C.K. to get to the rest.

“The windows begin to crack..The gate begins to open…The veil begins to slip…”

V/H/S/99 is available to stream now on Shudder.