Every V/H/S/Beyond Segment Ranked from Worst to Best

   October 7, 2024
vhs beyond movie 2024
V/H/S/Beyond (2024), streaming on Shudder

As is the case with every V/H/S movie, V/H/S/Beyond contains a few freaky, effective segments, and a few that have you scratching your head. They don’t always gel into their own cohesive story, but it’s fun to see a handful of directors tackle the same topic or theme in their own ways. The theme for V/H/S/Beyond was the cross-section between horror and science fiction. A few rigorously stuck to this theme, while a couple rarely even chose to indulge. The result is a movie that’s a bit of a mixed bag, and here’s how I’d rank the V/H/S/Beyond segments.

6. Stowaway (directed by Kate Siegel)

The fifth and final uninterrupted segment in V/H/S/Beyond is titled Stowaway – directed by Kate Siegel and written by Mike Flanagan. This section sticks the closest to the theme by literally transporting you into an alien spacecraft in orbit. This section, like a few mentioned later, isn’t all that scary. It follows a woman deeply entrenched in alien conspiracy culture and determined to prove their existence. Her obsession lands her in grave danger. The appearance of aliens here is brief and the scares are few and far between. Not to mention that it comes later in the film so you’re already beginning to feel the runtime before it even begins.

5. Dream Girl (directed by Virat Pal)

The second section is Dream Girl (directed by Virat Pal) and follows a duo of paparazzi photographers sneaking onto the set of a movie starring a major movie star. The segment has an equally gonzo conclusion to the first (Stork), but the premise doesn’t have enough meat to the bone, doesn’t really match the space theme of the movie, and overstays its welcome even at a mere 20 minutes.

4. Stork (directed by Jordan Downey)

The first segment of V/H/S/Beyond, Stork directed by Jordan Downey, is a sort of alien/COD zombies hybrid that doesn’t effectively go anywhere beyond the FPS point-of-view framing and insanely bloody gore. It’s an idea that has some merit, but was done in a much crazier way in V/H/S/94 by Timo Tjahjanto.

3. Fur Babies (directed by Christian Long and Justin Long)

The fourth segment is Fur Babies. This one is directed by Christian Long and Justin Long. The premise is intriguing and worthy of a short film, where a twisted woman kidnaps people and begins turning them into literal pets. This segment has the best (or worst if you have a weak stomach) body horror. It makes for a nifty, freaky short. But I ask again, how does this tie into the supposed alien theme of V/H/S/Beyond?

2. Abduction/Adduction (directed by Jay Cheel)

The wraparound story Abduction/Adduction features the movie’s best scare, even if it takes the longest to develop. It’s written and directed by Jay Cheel and is shot documentary style, recapping a strange and disturbing story involving an old Canadian house and two VHS tapes. The story concludes in a grab-at-your-chest, absurd piece of visual filmmaking that genuinely had me freaked out. It’s a filmmaking style that I wish was explored more, as the grainy dark footage is where V/H/S/Beyond is the most effective.

1. Live and Let Die (directed by Justin Martinez)

Live and Let Die is the third segment, which follows a group of skydivers colliding into a sky bound UFO. The segment is directed by Justin Martinez and is the first that really perked my interest. The alien reveal is eerie and effective, and the conclusion is gnarly as hell. The acting is poor in this one, but if that was the scale we were grading on, none of these segments would have taken the top spot.

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