V/H/S/85
2023 horror anthology film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2023 horror anthology film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
V/H/S/85 is a 2023 found footage horror anthology film, and the sixth installment in the V/H/S franchise. The film features segments from Mike P. Nelson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani, Scott Derrickson, and David Bruckner.[3][4]
| V/H/S/85 | |
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| Distributed by | Shudder |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
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An international co-production between the United States and Mexico, the film was met with positive reviews following its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2023, and was released on October 6, 2023 by Shudder.[5] A follow-up, V/H/S/Beyond, released the following year.
The movie is composed of five segments, with a sixth being the frame narrative, all set in 1985. This is the first film in the franchise to have two segments directly connected with each other ("No Wake" and "Ambrosia"), as well as having a segment related to the filmmakers most recent work (Scott Derrickson's "Dreamkill" being directly connected to The Black Phone).
A narrator presents a documentary on a team of scientists at Stamer University studying a shapeshifting being they name "Rory".
Seven friends – Rob, the person recording this segment; Anna, Rob's sister; Jared, Anna's boyfriend; Drew; Robin; Kevin; and Kelly – travel in an RV to camp at a lake. Ignoring signs that warn visitors against swimming, Rob, Drew, Robin, Kevin, and Kelly enter the water on a boat while Anna and Jared stay behind. While water skiing, they are shot and killed by an unseen sniper on the shore. Moments later Rob, Drew, Robin, and Kelly regain consciousness despite their fatal injuries.
Returning to shore, they find their RV has the Roman numeral for seven painted on it with blood; they also find Anna and Jared dead. The survivors conclude that the water in the lake has the ability to bring the dead back to life, and since they were the only ones in the group to go into the water, only they were resurrected. They decide to enact their revenge on their attackers as the segment ends.
The documentary reveals that "Rory" was found on top of a butte and brought to Stamer University to be studied by a team under the supervision of Dr. Spratling. Hoping to educate the being about human culture, Rory is contained in a small room with a TV, which broadcasts (among other things) exercise videos. Spratling is convinced that the team can communicate with Rory.
A Mexican news crew is preparing for the morning news at Ahorita TV. A massive earthquake strikes during the broadcast, which kills the entire crew except for the cameraman, Luis. He is assisted out of the rubble by a rescue team. They attempt to make their way out of the building, but are blocked from exiting by fallen rubble. A member of the rescue team, Javier, is mortally wounded in an aftershock; he forces one of his co-workers, Karla, to expedite his death. Karla, Luis, and two other men in the group, Miguel and Eddie, make their way through a crawl space, where they enter a room with walls made of skulls and find a statue of an ancient Aztec god named Mictlān.
Mictlān possesses Eddie, who then kills Miguel. Mictlān materializes behind the possessed Eddie and kills him by ripping out his heart, which he then proceeds to eat. Karla succumbs to the god's influence and kills Luis, ripping out his heart as an offering. The room eventually collapses. A surviving news reporter broadcasts from outside the building, saying that "Today, September 19th, approximately 7:20 am, will be a day to remember". This segment is a fictional depiction of the actual 1985 Mexico City Earthquake.
Rory has begun to display the ability to mutate into, and vaguely resemble, a human body. The footage is interspersed with an interview of a scientist, Dr. Greyson, who had quit the team. She says that when Rory's shapeshifting abilities were discovered, Spratling should have exhibited caution.
A performance artist, Ada Lovelace, opens a show for a small audience in a theater. She explains that the world has killed God and replaced him with the "God of Technology". She introduces a video of a demonstration of a virtual reality software device that allows its user to exist simultaneously on the physical and digital plane. Ada adorns herself with a VR headset, gloves, and a full body suit. Another video is projected that shows what Ada is seeing through her headset, depicting an electronic landscape.
After Ada performs an incantation to try to awaken the "God of Technology", and taunts it as a "myth", a mysterious figure appears on the screen. Ada tries, but ultimately fails, to remove the headset. She struggles with one of her gloves before taking it off and revealing the hand underneath to be gone. The entity attacks Ada, with her injuries in the virtual world affecting her in real life. She soon succumbs to her injuries, and as the shocked crowd applauds – believing it to be part of the act – the cameraman removes the visor on the helmet, revealing that Ada's now-exposed brain and facial tissue have merged with the helmet.
Rory is shown sprouting a tentacle with spikes at the end. Later on, it's revealed that the tentacle is called the "feeler".
The Wrigley family are hosting a celebration in honor of their teenage daughter Ruth, who films the occasion with her cousin James. Ruth's young relative Adam shoots her with a water gun, which he reveals was given to him by "a lady in an RV" that is seen speeding off. That evening, the Wrigleys reveal they are celebrating an old family tradition – the murders of seven people – as a rite of passage that Ruth has completed. She produces a recording of a killing spree in which she murdered seven people at a lake (per "No Wake"). Police sirens are heard as officers surround the family home.
The family rushes to fight back, arming themselves with guns. Ruth's mother reminds her to ensure she is not taken alive, lest it bring shame on the family. As the police raid the house and shoot Ruth's family dead, Ruth kills James after he confesses he is too frightened to fight. Ruth is then gunned down by the police. As a coroner examines the bodies, Ruth revives and, in shock, shoots the coroner. Ruth shoots herself in the head but remains alive. She is arrested in great distress. The video then reveals that Robin, one of Ruth's victims from the lakeside massacre, filled the water gun with water from the lake and gave it to Adam.
Gary, one of the scientists, becomes disturbed when Rory takes on his appearance, as Gary is the only one in the group that has never had a face-to-face with Rory. Dr. Greyson calls for an emergency meeting. She says that Gary has never been in the chamber, then deduces that Rory can see through the one-way mirror that divides its containment and the study room. While Greyson expresses concern, Spratling sees it as a miracle, arguing Rory is breaching beyond its restraints to make contact. Greyson explains in an interview that Spratling did not deserve what happened to him, but that he brought it on himself, and that she primarily sympathizes with the people Spratling "took with him".
In a first-person point of view, a killer enters a woman's home, ties her up, and brutally murders her while she is on the phone with 911. The lead detective Wayne recognizes the scene from a previous video of a similar murder. Another video shows the killer entering another home, fighting the man inside, and brutally murdering him as well. The police come to the house and Wayne tells Bobby that he had already seen the murder on a tape he received earlier.
Wayne investigates and finds out that Gunther, Bobby's son, is the one sending the tapes. Gunther claims that he saw the murders in his dreams and that they were being recorded on the tapes. He sent them to the police to warn them. Wayne is skeptical, but Bobby explains that their family has a psychic ability to see the future. Gunther's cousin, Gwen, had similar dreams when her brother was kidnapped, and Bobby's sister ended up committing suicide due to the overwhelming visions. A new tape is discovered, showing another murder where the victim was dismembered and beheaded.
Bobby and Wayne recognize the location in the tape and decide to investigate. Outside the house, Wayne confronts Bobby about his involvement in the previous murders. Bobby had a connection to the victims: the women from respective first and last video tapes who accused him of sexual assault and stalking, and the man from the second video tape was their attorney. Wayne also reveals that Bobby lost his job as a result of these accusations. When Wayne pleads with him to tell the truth, Bobby shoots him in the head and then enters the house to carry out the murder depicted in Gunther's dream.
Back at the police station, Gunther discovers that his dream is being replayed on the camera in the interrogation room. Bobby returns to the station and encounters Gunther, who has a realization that his father is the killer. Gunther shares that he had a dream predicting the outcome of the situation. The police arrive and Bobby easily takes them down, only to get shot in the head by Gunther.
Rory is unresponsive to stimuli, which Spratling interprets as it being sick. Dr. Greyson disagrees, saying that if Rory is as intelligent as Spratling says it is, then Rory could be manipulating him. Later on that evening, Greyson abandons the study. She tries to convince others to follow her, but is unsuccessful. The documentary narrator reveals that while authorities have shared footage of what happened at Stamer University, the documentary will not show it due to the disturbing nature of the images and a concern for the well-being of the viewers. The tape cuts to a black screen revealing that the following footage is property of Stamer University, leased to the show with no intention of distribution.
After Greyson leaves the group, Spratling sends Gary into Rory's room to give him an adrenaline shot, but before he can do so, Rory exposes its "feeler" and wraps it around Gary's arm. While Spratling and Porter are able to get Gary out of the room, Rory sprouts another "feeler" that it uses to drag Gary into its room to kill him; Porter suffers the same fate. Spratling and the cameraman run to escape, but due to the blood on Spratling's hand, the door scanner cannot read his handprint. Rory's "feeler" extends to the hallway and kills them both. Rory then pulls the cameraman's corpse back to its room, where it has assumed an alien form and is manipulating the corpses to mimic the exercise videos shown on the TV screen.
"Total Copy"
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"No Wake"/"Ambrosia"
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"God of Death"
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"TKNOGD"
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"Dreamkill"
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In October 2022, Bloody Disgusting announced V/H/S/85 and that the film was secretly shot back-to-back alongside V/H/S/99.[6] David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani and Mike P. Nelson were announced as directors while Josh Goldbloom, Brad Miska, Bruckner, Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and James Harris would produce the film.[7][8]
Filming began in April 2022.[9][10] In October 2022, Scott Derrickson confirmed his segment was already filmed.[11]
V/H/S/85 had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2023.[12] The film was later released on October 6, 2023, via Shudder.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of 47 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "One of the franchise's stronger entries, V/H/S/85 largely avoids the quality control issues common to anthologies, with consistently creepy results."[13]
Jacob Hall of Slashfilm stated that "this is the first film in the series where it feels like every director is actively shooting for the moon," rating it 7 out of 10.[14] Mary McAndrews of Dread Central wrote that "V/H/S/85 is perhaps the series' most consistent entry," praising the focus on cosmic horror and "the shifting cultural consciousness of the 80s," rating it 4 out of 5.[15]
Emily Von Seele of Daily Dead deemed the film "an exceptionally strong entry" in the franchise, highlighting the consistent quality between segments with "no obvious weak link," rating it 5 out of 5.[16] In a positive review for The Daily Texan, Ryan Ranc commented that "'V/H/S/85' stands out as one of the best in the long running franchise," pointing out the "very satisfying payoff" of the main wraparound story and rating the film 3.5 out of 5.[17]
Kat Hughes of The Hollywood News praised the film as one of the best in the franchise, specifying Nelson's first segment, "No Wake", as "by far the bloodiest, messiest, and goriest of all the stories shown" and rating the film 4 out of 5.[18]
On October 13, 2023, during the V/H/S/85 panel at New York Comic Con, Bloody Disgusting and Shudder confirmed that a seventh V/H/S film was in production, with the film being sci-fi.[19] In July 2024, the film was revealed to be called V/H/S/Beyond and will release on October 4, 2024.[20]
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