All 5 found footage videos of V/H/S/Beyond explained

Since launching in 2012 from a concept by Brad Miska, the V/H/S movie series has been a close favorite of horror fans, showing us a wide variety of found footage short stories in the form of tapes. Through the years, the series has adapted themes for its installments, which is the case for the seventh and latest film, V/H/S/Beyond. Love the sci-fi horror subgenre? Then this is the one for you! It's all about extraterrestrial creatures this time around.

Though not every tape throughout the seven films — plus the two spinoffs! — is amazing, multiple unforgettable hidden gems make them worth watching. It's hard to believe a series with this many installments would still be successful, but I was very impressed with V/H/S/Beyond and thoroughly enjoyed the viewing experience. An anthology series can be tough to pull off, but this one does it. We break down the five tapes in V/H/S/Beyond below, explaining what happens and how they end.

WARNING: Major spoilers for V/H/S/Beyond to follow.

1. "Stork"

The first tape we get to watch in V/H/S/Beyond is a full-out gore fest as police officers investigate recent baby disappearances, which lead them to a home inhabited by zombie-like creatures. Knowing the theme of the movie, they probably come from outer space. The police team must fight for survival as they make their way through the house to find the stolen babies, and as they do they learn more about these creepy creatures. Eventually, they find a huge bird-alien hybrid creature (a.k.a. the stork) who eats one of the officer's brains and spits it up into one of the babies' mouths. Yep, it's gross!

By the end, one of the officers must be killed, and we learn that the police team, called W.A.R.D.E.N., has dealt with situations like this before. They're able to kill the stork once and (hopefully) for all before leaving the house and deciding not to tell the families of the missing babies what truly happened.

2. "Dream Girl"

The second video follows paparazzi in Mumbai, India, who go after a tip about a Bollywood actress named Tara. One of the men is bitter towards celebrities after failed attempts at becoming famous, while the other seems excited about getting to see the star. They get onto a film set and then sneak into Tara's trailer to try to get an exclusive video. One of the paparazzi begins feeling bad for Tara after hearing the way her manager speaks to her.

Tara doesn't need anyone to defend her, though. As it turns out, she's actually an otherworldly robot creature who begins killing those around her on set. No one makes it out alive, not even the two paparazzi. Tara rips off one of the men's faces and puts it on hers before leaving the set and attacking everyone outside.

3. "Live and Let Dive"

"Live and Let Dive" is one of my favorite videos in V/H/S/Beyond, seeing what happens when a UFO of extraterrestrial creatures crashes into a plane. To make matters even worse, the group riding on the plane is preparing to jump out and skydive. Forced into the air before planned, the group of friends has to sink or swim. Some of them end up dying in the crash, and as the survivors find each other on land, they are chased and attacked by the alien creatures.

One of the friends is able to run out to the road and flag down a man driving a truck, though the man threatens him with a gun. Suddenly, the truck driver is attacked by one of the aliens and the friend gets into the front seat to try and drive away. However, it's too late. The UFO abducts the truck, taking the friend with them.

4. "Fur Babies"

The only tape in V/H/S/Beyond that doesn't have any obvious extraterrestrial connection is "Fur Babies," which is about a twisted doggy daycare owner named Becky. After seeing her commercials, two people working for an animal rights group pay a visit to Becky's home, acting like they want to consider boarding their dog. Upon seeing taxidermies of her past dogs on her mantle, Becky gives them a sentimental explanation — though it still creeps her guests out. While Becky certainly seems offbeat, it isn't until her two guests go to see the basement that it's revealed how dangerous she is.

Becky has been keeping people hostage in her basement with plans to turn them into dog-human hybrids. In the nick of time, other members of the animal rights group break in, but they ultimately aren't able to save their friends. Becky orders her dog-human hybrids to kill the activists. The final scene of the video shows a person coming up to Becky's house to try and steal a package, only to be attacked and killed by one of her creatures.

Fun fact: "Fur Babies" was written and directed by Justin Long and his brother, Christian Long.

5. "Stowaway"

The fifth and final found footage video in V/H/S/Beyond is definitely the best, written by Mike Flanagan and directed by Kate Siegel. This one follows a woman who travels to the Mojave Desert to film a documentary about extraterrestrial sightings. She interviews locals who say they saw mysterious lights and one night, she follows a light she sees to a UFO.

She's clearly fearless as she enters the spaceship and looks around. Expectedly, what she experiences is incredibly strange and creepy, and after she's forced to hide from a creature she realizes there might not be a way out. Before long it's too late to escape and she is transported with the ship up to space.

As she gets her bearings she realizes what's happened and still seems excited about what she's been able to film, but suddenly there's another big push that transports the ship further, and she's left injured with part of her face melting off.

After premiering at Fantastic Fest in September, V/H/S/Beyond is now streaming on Shudder. Which is your favorite video from this installment?