As a fan of found footage movies since the days of The Blair Witch Project, trust me when I say that we fans are constantly on the lookout for new material. You see, found footage horror movies usually aren’t as popular in the mainstream as your standard type. The budget and quality can be a lot lower, but that’s to be expected in order to create the atmosphere of a movie that’s not supposed to be, well, a mainstream movie. That’s the point of most found footage horror films. While the good news is that this can lower the barrier to entry, there are a ton of extremely below average films that are laughably horrible. What is the point of all this? Well, while finding a well-made found footage horror film is hard enough, there are likely even fewer found footage horror film series. So, when the first V/H/S film was released, fans like myself flocked to it and held on for dear life. The movie was really cool for what it was and much needed in the genre. I’d say the series became pretty popular, and fans have ever since marked the date for each new release in the series. Enter V/H/S/Beyond, the seventh in the series.

With this one, the overall theme is aliens. It’s a safe topic to choose, though it’s not the most exciting for me. I guess it kind of depends on how they tell the stories. Oh, and gore and violence are the other overall themes. While what can be considered a “horror” movie depends on who you ask, I’m in the camp that violence and over-the-top gore are not horror. If used sparingly, sure. But, flood it constantly in every other scene, and it gets very tiring to watch. I can’t remember the other V/H/S series, but I believe V/H/S/Beyond might be the champ in this.

“Stork” — This one was an extremely weird one to start off the movie, and I expected no less! However, once they started killing the zombie like ghouls one after another non-stop, I got impatient for them to just get on with it.

“Dream Girl” — Not bad. It initially started with a promise, and the song was actually pretty catchy. But then the whole violence and gore came into play, and once again, I got impatient for it to just get to the end. People with epilepsy may want to skip this one due to the flashing lights.

“Live and Let Die” — Better than the previous two. I feel like a theme is starting to develop here. This one felt more like the traditional first-person-found footage films I came to expect. The whole skydive landing and running away from the aliens in the orchid was very cool. That ending was also well done.

“Fur Babies” — Yeps, the streak continues. Best one so far. This one was definitely weird. The idea of turning a human into an animal for some sick fantasy is always creepy, and hmm…I’m reminded of a specific movie. Hey, guess who directed this one? Justin Long! I guess he’s still traumatized by his role in The Tusk. Fans of Fur Babies should definitely check that one out! 🤣 🤣

“Stowaway” — The last one in the film and one that should resonate the most with alien fans. Very cool concept where the girl gets trapped and gets blasted to who knows what galaxy. That ending where it reveals what happens to her during the trip is probably the most horrifying of all in the entire movie. I would have loved it if they expanded just a bit more and showed what happens after her arrival before the recording gets cut off.

While there were many hits and misses in the V/H/S franchise, I can’t say that Beyond is the worst or the best in the series. It is serviceable, and fans will likely watch it regardless of any reviews they read online. New viewers to the franchise, should they become more interested afterward, will likely find the first two in the series to be a treat to watch. Personally, I’m more of a fan of stories like Stowaway, where they invoke mystery and shock without needing to rely too much on gore and violence. It is the only story in the movie that made me want to think about it afterward.