Fantastic Fest 2024 review: V/H/S Beyond brings sci-fi thrills and beasts from beyond

Shudder returned to Fantastic Fest with a vengeance this week, premiering the seventh installment of the V/H/S franchise with V/H/S Beyond.

This installment contains five unique segments and a wraparound story helmed by filmmakers like Jay Cheel, Jordan Downey, Virat Pal, Justin Martinez, Justin Long, Katie Siegel, and more. V/H/S producer Josh Goldbloom returns to produce this entry, along with Brad Miska, who has been a producer for the franchise since the first one in 2012.

V/H/S Beyond starts with the wraparound segment directed by Cheel (Cursed Films). It presents as a documentary about the history of America's obsession with alien invasions, specifically one case that has both skeptics and believers baffled. Between the interviews and narration are different unearthed tapes claiming to contain evidence of alien life.

The five segments are presented within these tapes. Cheel's wraparound is probably the most grounded and realistic take on the traditional V/H/S wraparound. Its interview segments and narration play everything straight and look like a real documentary one would find on YouTube, only to fly off the handle in its final moments.

The first of the segments is "Stork," directed by Jordan Downey and written by Kevin Stewart, who previously collaborated for the campy holiday horror flick Thankskilling. "Stork" is a blood-soaked, high-octane video game that has come to life, seen through the lens of police body cams. The segment is quick, tense, and brutal, with a showstopping climax that brings the franchise to a new level of terror and absurdity to the franchise. It's a first-person shooter horror segment that grabs you and doesn't let go.

V/H/S Beyond also takes a historic step for the franchise, as it contains the first-ever segment to be from India, helmed by Virat Pal. Pal's segment follows a duo of paparazzi photographers sneaking onto a Bollywood movie set to get photos of a famous actress. The segment felt oddly reminiscent of the classic V/H/S segment "Amateur Night," but with a sci-fi twist. The segment quickly turns into a tense fight for survival, with evil androids and blood-soaked Bollywood set pieces.

During my interview with Pal, he referenced Terminator and Nightcrawler as inspirations for his segment, and it’s obvious what he means. It also reminded me a lot of Cloverfield with its hectic handheld cinematography, and maybe a hint of Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a cherry on top (but maybe I'm looking too deeply here).

Immediately following that is Justin Martinez's "Live and Let Dive," which might go down in history as one of the most intense and unique segments in V/H/S history. The segment follows a group of friends skydiving for a friend's birthday when sci-fi extraterrestrial chaos ensues. This had my stomach in knots for reasons I wasn't expecting, I can handle bloodthirsty aliens and sci-fi horrors beyond my world but skydiving? I feel sick writing this. The segment lands on its feet with a tense cat and mouse chase scene between the characters and the monster, definitely one for the books.

The next segment was one I was particularly excited to see, the combined work of horror alumni Justin Long and his brother Christian with their segment "Fur Babies". This segment strays a bit too far from the sci-fi prompt that it actually felt oddly out of place in this installment, but nonetheless, the Long brothers deliver. The segment is a B-horror creature feature with a mix of comedy and flat-out disturbing body horror, with a standout performance from Libby Letlow, who plays her character Becky like a modern-day Annie Wilkes. The segment also feels like Justin Long is still processing his trauma from the cult classic Tusk, safe to say this one will find its audience.

Closing out the individual segments is Kate Siegel's "Stowaway," which also marks her directorial debut. This particular segment was the most effective for me as it felt like a genuine VHS tape one would find. The segment follows a conspiracy theorist as she tries to follow a series of lights that appear above the desert sky. Through the character's monologues and cleverly subtle cuts, we get glimpses into the character's life between the tense terror. The segment was especially haunting with it's use of special effects, cinematography, and Alanah Pearce's disturbed yet brilliant performance, after watching this I hope to see Kate Siegel do more directorial work in the genre.

Overall, V/H/S Beyond takes the most risks and leaps in the franchise, and while it's sure to be polarizing for some I think diehard fans of the franchise will be to find something to recoil in fear at in this one.

While the film's central prompt is much broader than the previous three, the scope of science fiction is kept exceptionally fresh as each of the individual filmmakers tackles it in their own unique way. From androids to aliens, franchise fans are in for a treat and will no doubt each come away with a new favorite segment.

This franchise has recently been rejuvenated with a new energy over the last few films, and there's something to be said about the fact that this is the seventh film from the series and the fourth one in the last four years. Yet it feels just as fresh and creatively abundant as ever, Goldbloom and team consistently find the best of the best to helm these segments and let them go all the way