Another year, another entry in the V/H/S franchise. Fittingly titled V/H/S/Beyond, the new film aims to prove that there are still plenty of stories to tell in the found footage format, right when it seemed like the boundaries of the genre could not be pushed any further.

 

Like previous entries, this one is also an anthology consisting of several short films shot by different directors. Like the last three films, Beyond continues the trend of being a “mixtape” of sorts with no overarching narrative providing an explanation for why you are watching the featured shorts. However, for the first time in the franchise’s 12-year history, there is an overarching theme tying each of the films together. That’s not the only element that distinguishes this film from the others.

 

The use of Beyond in the title is very intentional. Where every short in each of the previous films has been rooted in horror, each of the shorts here are rooted in science fiction. That doesn’t make the film any less terrifying. It’s just that the monsters here are mostly aliens, robots and mad scientists.

 

Noteworthy contributors to the project include horror icons Mike Flanagan and Justin Long. But neither is the role you might expect them to be. Flanagan is only credited as a writer for one of the films while his frequent muse (and wife) Kate Siegel marks her directorial debut with it. And Long sits in the director’s chair alongside his brother Christian to direct one of the most bizarre yet nightmarish entries. 

 

The clear standout is a short titled "Live and Let Dive", directed by Justin Martinez, a founding member of the production company Radio Silence that helped establish the franchise. Without giving too much away, as the title implies, it involves a skydiving session that goes terribly wrong. It’s both reminiscent of the classic The Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” and imagines what might have happened after the emergency exit doors were blasted open by William Shatner’s character. That’s not to say that any of the entries are bad. They are all good for different reasons. "Live and Let Dive" just so happens to be the most exhilarating for reasons you just have to see to believe.

 

Admittedly, the weakest of the bunch is the short that is used to frame the film. Directed by Jay Cheel and titled "Abduction/Adduction", it is a fictional documentary exploring the disappearance of a man who believed his house was being visited by aliens at night. The concept is a lot of fun. Throughout the film, as we see all these terrifying stories on the new V/H/S tapes play out, we see skeptics and experts weigh in on whether or not human beings are truly alone in the universe. Now, there is some great commentary, and even a cameo that modern skeptics of the digital age will appreciate. However, with the exception of the short’s first and final sequences, all of the interspersed interviews just feel like filler. That’s not to say that those parts should be cut from the film, but they don’t drive home the overarching theme as well as the other pieces do.

 

That theme is the price of curiosity. How far are we willing to go for the truth, for money, for thrills, for answers to the unexplained? All of the answers will effectively shock you.

 

The found footage genre isn’t dead, but it’s honestly incredible how the series just keeps on injecting life into it. Now, it would not be fair to call V/H/S/Beyond the best entry in the franchise because they are all good in their own way. But the way in which it proves that there is no shortage of fresh ideas or perspectives to tell these stories definitely makes it one of the strongest. If this is any indication of what the future holds, then unlike a real V/H/S tape, this franchise might play on forever.