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The V/H/S horror anthology film series returns this October with its fifth installment. Created by film producer Brad Miska (Southbound) and his studio Bloody Disgusting, the franchise of fear-inducing found footage films brings together an array of horror writers and directors to create a masterful mashup of transfixing tales of terror once again. The first V/H/S film was released in 2012, debuting at Sundance Film Festival before striking fear into audiences around the world. Since then three more V/H/S anthologies have been released, along with a spin-off titled SiREN. The films often center around a theme, with a story of how the VHS tapes were found serving as a narrative between the shorts which bring to life different kinds of horror with original twists. From aliens to demons, cults, mad scientists, and more, there’s something for everyone and something you’d never expect in each release. The newest addition to the franchise, V/H/S/99, is said to focus on its titular year, 1999, coupling nostalgic themes with the skin-crawling, mind-bending, gut-wrenching horror that the franchise is known for. If you're looking to learn more about the frightening franchise's latest release, the minds behind the mortifying movies, and when and where you can get your claws on a copy, this article will help you find what you’re looking for without having to dig through an undead man's dirty basement.
Watch The Terrifying Trailer
Released on the Shudder official YouTube page, the V/H/S/99 trailer gives audiences a glimpse back in time to the late 90s, complete with striped polo shirts, bleached tips, jelly bracelets, and gruesome, haunting images from handheld cameras depicting the terror to come.
When Will V/H/S/99 be Released?
V/H/S/99 debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022 where it received praise for its depictions of common phobias, as well as its visual aesthetic and practical effects. If you weren’t able to catch its debut screening, don't worry. While it won’t start playing on its own across a staticky phone screen to infect you with violent rage, it will be released just in time for Halloween on October 20th.
Where Can You Watch V/H/S/99?
Luckily you won’t have to break into a dead man's house to find a copy of this frightening film. V/H/S/99 will only be available to stream on the Shudder streaming service. Subscribing to the hub of haunts and horror costs just $4.75 per month after a free seven-day trial, making it a cost-effective way to get your horror fix for Halloween, or all year round. While you won’t be able to purchase a VHS copy of V/H/S, the digital version doesn’t promise to not come with any Glitches, so while you watch the film from the comfort of your home, or the dorm room of a missing student, or the drug-filled complex of a demonic cult, be sure to check the closets for something, or someone, lurking in the shadows.
Who Are The Creators Behind The Anthology’s Segments?
Flying Lotus, the composer who is known for making mind-bending psychedelic and hip-hop soundscapes also happens to have a background in film. Apart from lending his musical genius to soundtracks, he previously wrote and directed the campy psychedelic horror film Kuso, as well as wrote six episodes of the Netflix anime series Kasuke. For V/H/S/99 Flying Lotus has directed and co-written alongside Zoe Cooper a segment titled "Ozzy’s Dungeon," which appears to be a brightly colored and campy new years' celebration of twisted madness.
Joseph and Vanessa Winter co-wrote and co-directed the segment titled "To Hell and Back." The duo, who are a married couple, are known for their Shudder original horror film Deadstream, which follows a disgraced internet personality as he attempts to win his audience back by streaming inside an actual haunted house.
Tyler McIntyre is the mind behind the anthology segment titled "The Gawkers." McIntyre is known for the 2017 slasher film Tragedy Girls, which follows two high school girls who run a blog about horrific tragedies and decide to create a tragedy of their own. As they wreak bloody havoc on their small midwestern town, the girls use their false naivety and innocence to trick their unsuspecting victims and the media at large. Judging by the V/H/S/99 preview, audiences are in for more of McIntyre’s teen scream slasher gore, but with a 90s gutter punk twist.
The short titled "Suicide Bid" comes from writer/director Johannes Roberts, who directed the Kaya Scodelario and Tom Hopper-fronted Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in 2021. Additionally, Roberts directed the terrifying and claustrophobic 47 Meters Down films, which center around one of the ocean's most feared predators, great white sharks. With a background in gore and claustrophobic terror, Robert's Suicide Bid is likely to send shivers down audiences' spines with some anxiety-inducing, visceral terror.
Filmmaker Maggie Levin is the writer and director behind the short titled "Shredding." Levin most recently worked as the second unit director for the 2021 Ethan Hawke starring film The Black Phone. Additionally, she has previously worked on another horror anthology, writing and directing an episode of the fantasy horror series Into The Dark. Levin’s next project, Retrograde, was recently announced. The sci-fi thriller is said to follow the dangerous movements of a scientist who is interfering with the fabric of time.
What is V/H/S/99 About?
The anthology film's official synopsis reads:
“Witness a hellish vision of 1999, as social isolation, analog technology and disturbing home videos fuse into a nightmare of found footage savagery.”
V/H/S/99 will feature a blood-spattered New Year's Eve celebration, a fever dream of a ritual performed by cloaked figures who move with creepy symmetry, a buried alive situation, and a touchy, feely, rashy, and scabby encounter that brings a level of claustrophobic anxiety to audiences who must face their fears via visceral visuals. Additionally, the film ties in plenty of nostalgic references of the time, such as the game show Legends of the Hidden Temple, the band Limp Bizkit, and the strange paranoia surrounding the computer calendar formatting of Y2K.
Where Can You Watch the Previous V/H/S Anthology Films?
V/H/S - The first V/H/S film is set in a frame narrative that follows a group of small-time criminals who take up a strange offer to break into a home and steal a VHS tape. While inside, they discover a dead body and a multitude of unmarked tapes. Unsure of which one they are supposed to retrieve they begin watching them one by one, each making up the next chapter of the anthology that includes promiscuous demons, a digital killer, and the creepiest, cultiest Halloween party ever.
V/H/S/2 - The frame narrative of V/H/S/2 features a private investigator and his girlfriend who are hired to look into the disappearance of a college student. In the student's dorm, they find a large stack of VHS tapes and decide to watch them for clues to the young man's whereabouts. The two view the tapes in mesmerized terror as images of cults, reanimated corpses, and grey aliens appear on the screen.
V/H/S/Viral - An amateur videographer and his girlfriend are at the center of the frame narrative of V/H/S/Viral, in which strange images and videos sent to cell phones cause people to go insane with violence. Witness the dark side of magic, demonic alternate universes, and a skateboarding trip to Tijuana gone wrong.
V/H/S/94 - In V/H/S/94’s frame narrative, a SWAT team is seen raiding a cult complex in search of a strange, goopy white substance believed to be a dangerous drug. When in the complex they find a mass of dead devotees in cell-like rooms, each with televisions displaying static. As they continue to search the televisions begin to play strange videos, including an investigation into a group of sewer dwellers who worship a rat god, the plight of kidnapped humans turned cyborgs, and what happens when a militia gets their hands on vampire blood.
SiREN - The spin-off film titled Siren is a full-length feature based on the Amateur Night short from the first V/H/S film, in which an attractive succubus demon named Lily seduces men to feed on, while also attempting to get a young man whose life she spared to fall in love with her. In this apparent prequel, soon-to-be-wed Jonah heads out of town for his bachelor party with his groomsmen. Off to a lackluster start the men head to a strange club where drinks are served with memory-stealing leeches in them, and a strange woman with clawed feet sings naked while chained by her ankle. The men soon realize that they are part of a terrifying trap and that Lily was more than a chained-up sex slave, she was an innocent demon seeking escape and revenge.