Not counting a couple of spin-offs, this is the seventh feature in the V/H/S horror franchise, which since the first edition in 2012 have packaged together short films by different directors to tell creepy tales involving found footage or aliens (or both) as well as lots and lots of gore. Usually anything this many generations into its evolution is pretty exhausted – but this is pretty good, or at least in parts. It probably helps that Brad Miska, the producer behind the original concept, is still involved. More importantly, Miska has kept things fresh by finding new directors and writers for each edition, some of whom have gone on to make films on a bigger scale (such as Joe Swanberg, Ti West and Adam Wingard, all of whom contributed to the first V/H/S) or came aboard after having already become relatively successful just for the fun of it (Scott Derrickson).
Naturally, this latest package is a pretty mixed bag. The framing story, Abduction/Adduction, is a haunted house snoozer that poses as a mockumentary, complete with VFX guys explaining how they can tell footage is faked. (Usually being shot on VHS or low-grade digital is the giveaway, with its glitches and artefacts that make things harder to see – which is funny because that applies to so much of the footage here.) Stork is next, and is just an excuse to try out a ton of in-camera and special effects as a Swat team specialising in paranormal situations raids a house and meets a freaky avian-like alien monster.
Things start to pick up with director Virat Pal’s Dream Girl, a Mumbai-set tale that unfolds on a Bollywood film set where the glamorous leading lady (Namrata Sheth) is rumoured to be a witch. (Spoiler: it’s even worse than that.) Live and Let Dive really lets rip with the POV-camera device common to so many V/H/S segments by attaching the rig to a man afraid of heights about to go skydiving with his buddies for his birthday, a trip interrupted by a close encounter that makes for the worst birthday ever. It earns bonus points for setting the final chase in an orange orchard, which makes for a very effective setting for prey and predator pursuits.
My personal favourite though is Fur Babies, a very tongue-in-cheek effort directed by comedy actor Justin Long and his director brother Christian Long. A shaggy dog story, literally, it revolves around a bunch of animal rights protesters who decide to infiltrate the home of Becky (Libby Letlow, hilarious), a dog daycare owner who has a sideline in grotesque taxidermy. Never has mention of something “crossing over the rainbow bridge” seemed so ominous. Finally, Kate Siegal’s Stowaway is anchored by a persuasive performance from Alanah Pearce, playing a UFO chaser searching in the Mojave desert for aliens who, unfortunately, finds exactly what she was looking for. In truth though, the writing is a little flat and less persuasive here.