V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie Review

Pre-millennium tension.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 22, 2023

The horror anthology "found footage" series V/H/S (Video Horror Shorts) began with an eponymous 2012 film and has spawned a few sequels and spin-offs, all of which feature horror shorts by different writers/directors and are framed by a bookending narrative. The previous entry, 2021's V/H/S/94, was the first to go with an era-specific theme, aiming for a quasi-1994 aesthetic while staying true to the formula. I didn't much care for the end result due to its extremely hit-or-miss success rate, which didn't leave my hopes very high for this thematically similar follow-up. And while it's still not packed front to back with winners, V/H/S/99 is at least a decent-sized step in the right direction.

It's due to two simple factors, really: the overall level of quality seems to be a notch higher than before, and these shorts are sequenced in a more pleasing manner than the previous entry. Another small plus -- in my opinion only, as purists may disagree -- is the lack of a longer wraparound story; instead, we get a few sequenced cutaways featuring a toy soldier-themed adventure apparently "directed" by a young teen from one of the five shorts included here. (These cutaways aren't exactly high art or even good, but they're at least short enough to be inoffensive.)

"Shredding" (dir. Maggie Levin) follows the self-recorded exploits of an aspiring pop-punk band known as R.A.C.K. (Rachel, Ankur, Chris, and Kaleb) as they break into an abandoned music venue ("Colony Underground") that burned down and claimed the lives of all four members of a punk band called Bitch Cat. Predictably, supernatural shenanigans ensue... especially after they mock the deceased band members by re-enacting their bloody deaths. This one's a little long in the tooth, but it's still a decent starter and is helped by its blackly comic elements. 2.5/5.

"Suicide Bid" (dir. Johannes Roberts) shows us a group of horrible sorority sisters who haze college freshman Lily by having her spend the night buried alive in a coffin. Not surprisingly, their plan ends badly when the sisters flee, police arrive, and a sudden storm drowns out Lily's cries for help. The next morning, things take an unexpected turn when their dig up the coffin only to find it empty. Although it contains a few solid scares and can be quite claustrophobic, "Suicide Bid" is by far the least original short -- I might have liked it more if it'd been first. 2/5.

"Ozzy's Dungeon" (dir. Steven D. Bingley-Ellison, AKA Flying Lotus) probably earns the most points for originality. Opening with footage from a violent take on the kids' game show Legends of the Hidden Temple, it switches gears halfway through to ensure that the show's host gets a taste of his own medicine. I liked the premise and found both of the lead performances surprisingly great, but this one should've been trimmed by a good 10 minutes. 2.5/5.

"The Gawkers" (dir. Tyler MacIntyre) is another "kids behaving badly" short like "Shredding" and "Suicide Bid", but this one's better than both of those. A mish-mash of Jackass-style tomfoolery and suburban boredom gets dark after a group of horny teenagers attempt to spy on their hot neighbor. A fun little endeavor, and one that evokes "1999 vibes" better than any other short in this collection. Somebody understood the assignment here. 3.5/5.

"To Hell and Back" (dir. Vanessa & Joseph Winter) begins on New Year's Eve 1999, when a séance snafu lands both members of the film crew in Hell... and they've only got until midnight to get back to Earth (?) or be trapped there forever. Guided by a primal young woman who speaks in broken sentences, they encounter plenty of horrific sights on their way to the lair of "Ukabon". Featuring solid gore effects and outstanding locations, "To Hell and Back" maximizes its minimal budget and is a great way to close things out. Perhaps its only crime is that the video quality's too good, which is explained away by the fact that this is a semi-professional film crew. Eh, I'll let it slide. 4/5.

Overall, V/H/S/99 is a good collection of shorts that gets better as it progresses and, for my money, a much more satisfying experience than V/H/S/94, whose less frequent flirts with greatness were dragged further down by a corny wraparound story. As with the previous entry, RLJ Entertainment presents this anthology film on Blu-ray -- whether it actually needs a 1080p presentation or not -- and adds in a nice assortment of extras just for good measure.

But as always, YMMV: our own Brian Orndorf was more critical of the film in his theatrical review. (Incidentally, he liked V/H/S/94 more than I did, so I'm convinced we're just on different wavelengths as far as horror is concerned.)

V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It's difficult to evaluate V/H/S/99 from any kind of objective standpoint, because it looks terrible by design* and that's no real fault of the Blu-ray. But even within expectational boundaries of its low-resolution title format (which it's most certainly not recorded in, but more on that very soon), this is exceptionally ugly work. Although I'm not 100% sure of the source material used, these films look to have been shot on various kinds of standard-quality digital equipment with additional noise, tracking lines, and video overlays added to make the image loosely resemble those beloved VHS tapes of yesteryear. The end result, unfortunately, gives us the worst of both worlds: you get neither the fuzzy analog charm of true VHS nor the crisp, pixel-perfect detail of high-end digital equipment and, combined with the mostly dark and dreary locales, this means there's a lot of visual rough road to tread through as the film lumbers on. Colors are drab, image detail and textures are virtually non-existent, and black levels are extremely poor.

* - The exception to this rule is "To Hell and Back" (screenshots #5 and 19), which is noticeably crisper and less garish than the other shorts included here; only a few tracking lines and other anomalies can be spotted along the way, but it otherwise looks like good-quality digital video. This is explained away by its premise (a documentary crew unwittingly records a séance before things go wrong) but either way, this is the least "VHS" of the bunch.

Then there's the matter of aspect ratio: V/H/S/99 is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen... which not only betrays its VHS roots, but doesn't really lead to any great compositions anyway since it's mostly hand-held footage. Overall this is an unavoidably rough-looking picture indeed, but again that's no fault of the Blu-ray: I've no idea where source material shortcomings end and potential disc compression issues begin, and it really doesn't matter anyway.

V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio presentation makes no real attempts to replicate an authentic VHS experience, but we at least get a pretty convincing horror atmosphere so it's easier to forgive. Even so, there are some attempts to rein in the robustness: portions of dialogue are a little tinny and hollow by design and there's no real beefy, wide-open waves of sonic assault to speak of, but discrete effects are often put to good use for jump scares and atmospheric touches during several key moments; as a whole, the track feels comfortably centered and well-balanced.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the extras.

V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc set ships in a standard keepcase with stylish (but kind of deceptive) cover artwork. The bonus features are a bit more in-depth than expected and include a mixture of general content and short-specific extras.

• Audio Commentary - Accessible via the "Play" menu only, this feature-length track is moderated by Bloody Disgusting podcast hosts Trevor and Leo and features most of the primary creative forces: altogether there's writer/director Maggie Levin ("Shredding"), writer/director Flying Lotus ("Ozzie's Dungeon"), writer/director Tyler McIntrye ("The Gawkers"), and co-writers/directors Vanessa & Joe Winter ("To Hell and Back"). Our co-hosts obviously do most of the talking here, with most of the contributors afforded plenty of time to talk over their respective shorts... with a few stray crossover comments, of course. It's pretty interesting stuff, all things considered, although the Zoom connection prevents a few transitions from going more smoothly.

• Exclusive Panel from Reedpop's New York Comic Con (51:21) - Produced for the AMC+ Fan Experience (but, as its name imlpies, probably exclusive to this disc for now), this mid-length 2022 roundtable Q&A is hosted by freelance writer Ruby Nye (Nerdist) and features four key crew members: V/HS/99 producer Josh Goldblum, writer/director Tyler McIntrye, and co-writers/directors Vanessa & Joe Winter.

The remainder of these brief extras mostly focus on four of the five main shorts seen during this film.

• Ozzy's Dungeon

• Deleted Scenes (1:24) - Connect Four and Bone Thugz karaoke.

• Shredding

• Deleted Scene (0:20) - Family drama in the kitchen.

• "Bitch Cat" Music Video (2:28) - A full version of the video seen during the short.

• The Gawkers

• Deleted Scene (0:42) - A stop-motion giraffe dance.

• Bloopers (1:11)

• Camera Tests (2:13) - With audio commentary by writer/director Tyler McIntrye.

• The Making of Medusa (1:09) - A slideshow of photos and short clips that showcase the construction and development of the creature seen during this short.

• To Hell and Back

• Raw Footage (7:35) - Short clips of camera tests, creature makeup, gore, and more.

• Location Scouting (2:11) - Fun in Fantasy Canyon and Fillmore Lava Tubes, Utah.

• Storyboards and Blocking Rehearsals (4:53)

• Gag Reel (2:15) - A montage from the above shorts.

V/H/S/99 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shudder's latest horror anthology V/H/S/99 keeps the ball rolling with another batch of low-res horror shorts. In my opinion it's a better entry than the "comeback film" V/H/S/94... and this bump in overall quality makes me a bit more excited for the franchise's next entry, V/H/S/85, which was secretly shot back-to-back alongside this most recent film. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers another decent A/V presentation, considering the mostly scuzzy source material, and the bonus features add a bit of value to the package. V/H/S/99 earns a decent recommendation from yours truly at the current price point, although horror and anthology films are typically more "YMMV" than most.