V/H/S/85

V/H/S/85
Release poster
Directed by	David Bruckner Scott Derrickson Gigi Saul Guerrero Natasha Kermani Mike P. Nelson
Produced by	Josh Goldbloom Brad Miska David Bruckner Chad Villella Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett James Harris
Cinematography	Nick Junkersfeld
Music by	Stephen Lukach Blake Matthew
Production companies	Studio71 Cinepocalypse Productions Bloody Disgusting
Distributed by	Shudder
Release dates	September 22, 2023 (2023-09-22) (Fantastic Fest) October 6, 2023 (2023-10-06)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English Spanish

V/H/S/85 is a 2023 American found footage horror anthology film, and the sixth installment in the V/H/S franchise. The film features segments from David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani and Mike P. Nelson.

The film was met with positive reviews following its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2023, and was released on October 6, 2023 by Shudder.

Plot

Total Copy (frame narrative)

• Directed by David Bruckner

Presented as a made-for-TV documentary, it focuses on a strange boy named Rory, who is sitting on the couch watching TV.

No Wake

• Directed by Mike P. Nelson

A group of seven young adults are on their way to camp at a lake. After arriving, the group all make their way into the water on a boat except for two who decide to stay behind. While on the boat, an unseen person begins to shoot at them from afar, seemingly killing the five adults. Moments after having all died, four of the five adults wake up confused, questioning how they are still alive despite their fatal wounds. They make their way onto shore, and discover the couple who had stayed behind also dead but not resurrected. They also find that their RV has the roman numeral seven written on the side of it in blood. They conclude that the reason they are still alive after having been shot, and not the couple, as well as the fifth person on the boat, is because they swam in the lake while the couple did not, as there had been multiple signs around the lake warning swimmers to not enter the water. The group decides to exact their revenge on their attackers.

God of Death

• Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero

This entry is shot as a fictional Mexican news casting. It opens with a woman sitting on a news desk preparing for the upcoming news segment. Meanwhile, the scene cuts to another woman who is reporting live from the streets of Mexico. Back at the news station, right as the woman at the news desk begins the segment, the building and set around her begin to creak and shake. The woman attempts to remain calm, and is then crushed as the roof of the building gives in. After the dust settles, the camera man is seen to still be alive and is helped out of the rubble by a rescue team. The team along with the man attempt to make their way out of the building, but are eventually blocked from exiting by the rubble. They continue their search for an exit and are then met by secret room full of paintings and a statue of an ancient Aztec god. The Aztec god materializes and begins to kill the survivors, and possesses a woman from the rescue team. She then kills the only man left surviving, and rips out his heart as an offering to the Aztec god.

TKNOGD

• Directed by Natasha Kermani

A woman stands on a stage, and prepares to perform for a small group in a theatre. She asks the audience if they believe in God, and then says that God is dead. She explains that the world has killed God and replaced with him with a new god, the god of technology. A video is then projected of a man explaining a virtual reality software that is paired with gloves and a helmet that can simulate doing tasks such as picking up a cup of coffee. He explains that this makes it as if he is existing on two planes of existence at the same time. The video ends and the woman is then seen wearing the same technology from the video, along with a full body suit. Another video is projected which shows what the woman is seeing through her virtual reality helmet. The woman begins to scream at the god of technology to show himself. Eventually, a transparent creature can be seen through the video that attacks the woman, her injuries in real life mirroring those she is experiencing in the virtual reality. Eventually the woman succumbs to her injuries, and the crowd claps and cheers, believing it to be part of the act.

Ambrosia

• Directed by Mike P. Nelson

A teenage girl named Ruth is shown recording a family get together. Her cousin, who she calls a loser, takes the camera and takes over the recording. Ruth’s mom asks her to go out and bring more potato salad for the party. While outside, a little boy shoots at Ruth with a water gun. She gets angry and asks the boy where he got the water gun, and he tells her he got it from a lady in an RV. An RV is then seen speeding off. The party ends and only a hand full of family stay behind to celebrate an ancient family tradition. Ruth makes a speech to her family about how proud she is to take part in the tradition which is to take the lives of seven people. She then explains that instead of sharing photos of the murders as per usual, that she would share a video recording. The recording then reveals that Ruth was the one responsible for murdering the seven adults from the first entry at the lake. As the video ends, police surround the family home and the family rushes to fight back, arming themselves with guns. Ruth’s mother tells her that if she is the last one left to take her own life & not let the police take her or it will bring shame on the family name. Ruth’s cousin (loser) holding the camera tells her that he can’t shoot at the police & Ruth not impressed shoots her cousin dead. As the police start raiding the house and shooting Ruth’s family dead, Ruth fires back and is killed. As the police clean up & the coroners are there, Ruth suddenly wakes up & in shock shoots the medical examiner. Still in shock Ruth does what her mother said. Ruth shoots herself in the head. But comes back to life. The police come in & arrest Ruth. It later shows that the woman who gave the water gun to the little boy was one of Ruth’s victims from the lake. It shows her filling up the water gun & being asked if this will work.

Dreamkill

• Directed by Scott Derrickson

An unseen man records himself breaking and entering into a home. The woman inside can be heard on the phone with 9-11. The man eventually finds her and murders her with an electric meat carver. Soon after, the police arrive and the lead detective in charge comments to his partner Bobby on how the home and murder scene looks very familiar to a video tape he received at the station of a woman being murdered a few weeks prior. The same man from earlier then makes his way into another home and murders the man living inside. Police arrive at the home and again the detective from before explains that he had already seen footage of this murder in a video tape he received days ago. The detective then tracks the source of the tapes and captures the person responsible for sending them. The person responsible turns out to be Gunther, the son of the detectives partner Bobby. Gunther is interrogated about the tapes and he explains that he had seen the murders take place in his dreams, and that his dreams were being manifested into the video tapes. He sent them into the station as a way to warn the police. The detective does not believe his story, however Bobby explains that their family has a psychic gift and that Gunther has accurately predicted the future before. A final tape is then found and reveals a third murder. Bobby and the detective recognize the home in the tape and go to investigate. After arriving outside the home, the detective confronts Bobby about having known his connections to the murders. The women murdered in the first tape and the last tape have both accused Bobby of sexual assault and stalking. The man in the second tape was an attorney representing the women. Bobby then kills the detective, and makes his way to kill Gunther. Arriving back at the station, Bobby finds Gunther and attempts to kill him, but Gunther reveals that he already know how this ends having had just seen it in a dream. Bobby is then attacked by guards, and manages to fight them off. Finally, Gunther takes a gun and kills Bobby, ending his attacks.

Production

In October 2022, Bloody Disgusting announced V/H/S/85 and that the film was secretly shot back-to-back alongside V/H/S/99. David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Gigi Saul Guerrero , Natasha Kermani and Mike P. Nelson will direct the segments while Josh Goldbloom, Brad Miska, Bruckner, Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and James Harris will produce the film.

Filming

Filming began in April 2022. In October 2022, Scott Derrickson confirmed his segment was already filmed.

Release

V/H/S/85 was released on October 6, 2023 exclusively via Shudder, following its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2023. The film also screened at American Cinematheque's Beyond Fest on October 1, 2023.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 76% of 29 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.

Jacob Hall of Slashfilm stated that "this is the first film in the series where it feels like every director is actively shooting for the moon," rating it 7 out of 10. Mary McAndrews of Dread Central wrote that "V/H/S/85 is perhaps the serie's most consistent entry," praising the focus on cosmic horror and "the shifting cultural consciousness of the 80s," rating it 4 out of 5.

Emily Von Seele of Daily Dead deemed the film "an exceptionally strong entry" in the franchise, highlighting the consistent quality between segments with "no obvious weak link," rating it 5 out of 5. In a positive review for The Daily Texan, Ryan Ranc commented that "'V/H/S/85' stands out as one of the best in the long running franchise," pointing out the "very satisfying payoff" of the main wraparound story and rating the film 3.5 out of 5. Kat Hughes of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as one of the best in the franchise, specifying Nelson's segment as "by far the bloodiest, messiest, and goriest of all the stories shown" and rating the film 4 out of 5.

External links

• V/H/S/85 at IMDb