User Reviews

V/H/S/85 is my least favourite out of the new V/H/S/ films. It's a shame because I was looking forward to this one. It's not a bad movie or anything like V/H/S: Viral.

There were some compelling ideas, with one segment involving a lake with supernatural abilities if you go into the water. Or how about a detective receiving video tapes filmed by a serial killer of a series of murders that has yet to happen, and the detective must track down the potential victims before it happens?

Speaking of that, the segment Dreamkill by director Scott Derrickson was my favourite. I noticed that Derrickson pulled ideas from his other movies, such as his 2012 film 'Sinister', where we get a Super 8-found footage POV of the killer committing the horrific acts. Or how the crime scenes looked straight out of Michael Mann's 'Manhunter'. Great stuff.

The scene transitions could have been smoother, as it did feel like I was watching a Nick Crowley YouTube video at times, which isn't an insult to Crowley himself; it's just a unique editing style that I didn't expect a movie production to take on board, intentional or not. It took me a bit to realize when the next horror segment started, as it wasn't always crystal clear.

Despite that, I'm still looking forward to more movies in the future. Again, it is not a bad movie, just a bit disappointed.

Although it doesn't show off the variety & versatility this franchise is renowned for, this newer expansion still possesses plenty of charm and freshness of its own that will help keep the audience committed for the entire course.

If you are an ardent follower of the V/H/S series or a general admirer of Found Footage features, you will find yourself right at home with sufficient blood and gore to satisfy your appetite. However, others may not get the appeal and might be confused about the rationale of the plot and its bizarre structuring. And that is completely understandable, as it is not made for everyone.

Please bear that in mind.

After V/H/S 99, I was approaching this next installment a little fearfully. But, to my surprise V/H/S 85 is a good entry. The wraparound story, as well as each segment were pretty good. Maybe the "TKNOGD" Segment (Segment number three) was a little weak, but still better than the first four segments of V/H/S 99.

Overall, V/H/S 85 reminded me a lot of V/H/S 94, which I consider one of the best. So, if you enjoy the suspense, eerie atmosphere and sophisticated storytelling of 94, you will enjoy this one too.

The best two segements (Dream Kill and Ambrosia) start and finish this series and therby "roll out" and "wrap up" the red carpet for the segments in the middle, allowing them to effect us with their full potential.

I recently watched V/H/S85 (2023) on Shudder. This horror anthology is skillfully presented as an 80s-style documentary, with a collection of videos that perfectly capture the camcorder-caliber quality of the 1980s. The stories within cover a range of themes, from cults and teenage antics to glimpses of the future and a compelling police interrogation.

Co-directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual), Scott Derrickson (The Black Phone) and Natasha Kermani (Imitation Girl), the film features a solid cast, including Freddy Rodríguez (Planet Terror), Jordan Belf (Entourage), Andrew Ghai (For All Mankind"), Chelsey Grant (Scare Package I & II) and Justen Jones (Accidental Family).

This installment has quickly become one of my favorites in the V/H/S series. The stories involving cults, the police interrogation, and the boat segment were particularly outstanding, I'd rate them between an 8 and 10/10. All of the segments featured commendable gore effects. Even the technology-themed episode, while not my personal favorite in terms of storyline, made up for it with its impressive gore effects. Unfortunately, the final episode didn't quite measure up to the rest.

In conclusion, V/H/S85 is a worthwhile modern-day horror anthology that I would strongly recommend. I would give this a rating of 7.5/10.

I am giving this a generous 6 (probably more like a 5.5) because ultimately it was a fun decent horror anthology. My problem is outside of two of the stories with ome being the wrapper story) the shorts do not feel finished satisfactorily as a complete story..

The first atory with the kids at the lake is a great idea but it never comes to anything and is incomplete and nothing is explained. It connects to another story about a crazy family which is the worst of the shorts. It is too predictable and still gives no closure to the koda im the lake story. It feels like that is artificially tacked together.

The story set in Mexico is my favorite. It is a complete atory with lota of scares particularly the claustrophobic kind. It was well done.

I have mixed feelings about the dream short bit i think it is the second best due to the gore. However it was very formulaic and predictable. It had some real stupid characters but overall was decent.

Finally the wrapper story about the alien found in the desert. It was unrealistic situation where an organism like this would end up at a lightly guarded college campus but i will ignore that. I thought the segments were interesting and the final act was cool. However it was kind of ruined by the joke scene at the end with the aerobics.

I almost forgot the technogod segment which is in the middle, It is understandable since this segment is very forgettable. The only good partofnit was the last 5 minutes of body horror. I could have also done without this one and wish they had found a better short

In summary the movie had flaws all over but did enough to keep me entertained. I wouldnt spend money to watch but if you can see for free it is worth a watch if you are into horror or the vhs movies.

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Short review: This is the definition of "if you like these films then you are going to like V/H/S/85." This film stays true to what we have come to expect from this franchise. The dark, gritty and often highly disturbing tone is all apparent here. But this one also has a few tricks that you won't have seen before. I won't spoil anything, but just know that there are some structural changes and they are game-changing and excellent additions.

As usual in these movie a few of the segments are better than the rest. There was certainly no absolute dud that ruined the film for 20 minutes by any means though. If you want to feel unclean and see some messed up things for 110 minutes then look no further than this film. It has everything you're after. 5.5/10.

Plot

An ominous broadcast brings viewers forgotten nightmares of the 1980s: a disaster recovery crew unleashes the wrath of an ancient god; a lake that brings the dead back to life; a performance art piece makes contact with a creature from the beyond; an all-guns-out undead bloodbath, and a disturbing vision of videotaped murders.

Cast

Big ol' shrug on that one I'm afraid

Verdict

Though not a fan of the V/H/S movies I do adore horror anthology's so at time of writing I'm up to date and I've not hated a V/H/S movie yet but I've not exactly loved them either.

V/H/S: 5/10 V/H/S 2: 6/10 V/H/S Viral: 5/10 V/H/S 94: 5/10 V/H/S 99: 4/10

You see horror anthology films can only be as good as their worst story and V/H/S films are notoriously inconsistent. V/H/S 85 is consistent though, consistently bad.

The stories are generally terrible, I'd argue the first is the best and has quite a satisfying twist later but it's not enough to hold the rest up. It draws influence from Sinister, no let me rephrase it imitates Sinister to an offensive level. Then it hits you with ugliness, a lack of sense, not a vast amount of horror and certain parts you just can't take seriously as they're more campy than anything else.

The grainy VHS filter was neat at first, being of an age where I can truly appreciate it I enjoyed seeing it, but the novelty has passed as have the V/H/S movies watchability.

Rants

What happened to horror anthology's? It seems like a lot of them these days are just the creator shoving loads of peoples short films together and calling it a movie. No, stop doing that! The ABC's of Death was the best example, and also the worst. I was so hyped for that and I can't put into words how heartbroken I was after watching it. Truly dreadful, we need less V/H/S, less ABC's of Death and more Creepshow please!

Breakdown

• First story & it's great twist
• Ugly visuals
• Terrible writing
• Sinister ripoff scenes.

It gets right into it. No main story arc about who's watching these videos. We start off with a story of vacation, youth, recreation, death, sudden and surprising horror, partying, wait, this was just an old video tape of young adults having fun, right? What could possibly go wrong....oh wait.... HOLY @#$!

So the first segment was so misleading, I honestly forgot what kind of movie I was watching until things got intense. Then it took a turn. A very "different" turn. This is not your usual VHS film, nor is it a typical, cash-grab low-budget horror. It does well for itself.

Despite the unattractive, distracting segment totally dependent on subtitles (unless you are fluent in Spanish), every segment is promising, intense, and fun. There are lots of great moments. It's not at fearful as the first VHS movie. No VHS sequel only will be. But this is the best installment since the release of the original.

It does get a little weak and predictable for the last couple segments. Still, it's fun. Have a few drinks, kick back, and just have fun.

So while it's not exactly perfect it's a very solid entry to the franchise that I think can now safely be categorized as a cult classic. With basically every previous entry there is a trend where some of the stories are abysmally bad and others are excellent, the same formula is followed here but as per usual what is missing from storylines is made up for with blood, gore, violence and nudity.

While this won't garner any praise from critics, for us fans who like it, we like it enough for them to keep churning out a new entry every year or two and that's good for me. One thing that I wish they would do is clean up the video quality a bit. I like how they purposefully ad in all classic VHS screen static but watching what looks like less than 360p for a couple hours does get quite daunting. There are ways they could keep the nostalgic effects from VHS and make it easier on the eyes.

7/10, overall very recommendable for fans of the genre, especially fans of the franchise.

If you are expecting the same as other V/H/S movies you are going to be very disappointed, you can tell this is an example of when found footage is not done correctly, boring, hardly nothing really happens, you can tell the budget was much smaller because of the lack of effects (gore, blood, scares etc) heck even V/H/S Viral put the effort and had something at least compelling compared to this mess. I think it's time to wrap up the V/H/S movies based on certain years and bring back the V/H/S 1 & 2 formula, there's just no real creativity anymore which is a real shame for what used to be a great anthology set of movies.

After the massive failure of "Viral" where was the "V/H/S" saga going to go? "99" and "94" was pushing towards a certain direction of the 90's that didn't exist, and seemed to be more politically motivated then horror driven ("Scare Package 2" comes to mind). So, it's been another year and it seems Shudder is gonna make Halloween "V/H/S" season for as long as nostalgia lasts. I, for one, am happy about it, but, let's be realistic here; each movie is like the last few years of SNL: One good bit per episode.

The latest entry is fine and you'll get your horror fun filled. My main issue is the lack of care and motivation that was in the previous entries. Yeah, "Viral" was bad, but "Parallel Monsters" was so well put together and driven by fun it was hard to not like it.

With each entry, it feels like the care and appreciation of the previous installments gets less and less until finally they just plop a camera down and call it a day.

"85" was fun, there's one really solid segment and two that work well, but then the rest feel slapped together and not heart. Also, I get it's 1985, but showcase those special effects!

I enjoy the V/H/S movies: they give horror directors the freedom to explore some crazy ideas without the need to conform to a traditional narrative structure. V/H/S 85 is a scattershot mix-tape of madness, presenting several tales that merge together in a mess of noise, grainy imagery, aerobics, and some very gruesome gore.

The variety of stories is great: we get a murder cult, a virtual reality creature, a psychic goth, an ancient Aztec god, and a shape-shifting monster called Rory. Some of the segments start off a little slow, but ultimately the weird and wonderful payoffs are worth the wait, with some very effective special effects. The somewhat inconclusive nature of the tales is bound to annoy those who prefer a standard 'beginning, middle and ending' format, with everything tied up in a neat package, but as an experiment in horror that allows film-makers to tackle something a bit different, I found it to be a refreshingly creative experience.

The VHS series WAS one of my favorites. The first two movies were really well done. The third movie was ok....but it's been all downhill from there. The last two movies, 99 and 94 were absolutely terrible, and I think this one might be just as bad or possibly even worse.

The beginning segment is OK, but still leaves you hanging even though the second part to it is in segment four. The next one was in Spanish, it was OK, but it ended kinda dumb. The third one was absolute trash. The fourth one continues were the first one left off. The last few segments were kind of a blur to be honest, they were kind of a mess. And the ending was absolutely terrible.

So if I average out all the segments it comes to a 3.5 out of 10. I rounded down for my score.

When will we make horror movies great again?

3/10.

The latest installment on the long-running V/H/S franchise is... fine. I'm simultaneously disappointed and satisfied as a fan. Before going through individual segments one by one, let me sum up the overall experience with the film. V/H/S/85 is filled with interesting ideas. Even some of the weaker segments contains/starts out with intriguing hook, setting, concepts etc. Obviously some segments are executed better than others, as expected from an anthology horror film. But my biggest issue, which holds true with almost all of them, is that they are quite underwhelming with regards to scare and tension. While I was engaged throughout and often was surprised and admired the way storylines converged/tied up the loose ends, I barely felt any tension or sense of terror and dread. It made me want to watch better horror films that excelled in those aspects. This is why I'm so mixed on this one despite leaving the film with positive taste in my mouth. It would have gotten so much lower rating if it weren't for some fantastic reveals and a great segment. Overall, I'd say this is around the same level as V/H/S/99. I still want to see more V/H/S films since there aren't any (successful) found footage-horror-anthology hybrid franchises, but I sincerely wish the next outing doesn't forget to make things actually scary. Oh, and I went into the film completely blind; and everyone should!

Total Copy While not as strong as Bruckner's previous entry in the V/H/S franchise 11 years ago, this worked pretty well as a wrap-around frame narrative. The fact that this story was split in 5 or 6 parts in between other segments worked in the segment's favor, making this a nice break/treat between other stories. The visual aesthetic and tonal vibe of "80s scientists conducting research on a mysterious being" was a delight. However, I still wished they went back to the "a group of people discover a bunch of disturbing tapes" frame narrative of the first two films.

No Wake As I got invested in the characters and the story, it raised questions such as; who was the shooter & wtf is with the water and what would the survivors do? And then it just ... ended? It was very off-putting and disappointing for something with this much intrigue and potential. But this was before I knew how it would come back later....

God of Death Perhaps the weakest segment. I appreciated the choice to include non-english horror segment, but the actual divinity/ritual scenes and the gore were pretty silly and over-the-top.

TKNOGD Loved the Tron-ish visual design of the digital world. The idea of a 'Tech God' being summoned via a digital/cyber ritual and wrecking havoc sounds fun. However, the location being limited to a single stage was detrimental in realizing its full potential. Still not bad tho. Loved the gore effect.

Ambrosia Had no idea where this would go, but as the "VII" sign appeared, finding out how this connects to the first segment was so cool and fun. The whiplash I got realizing the purpose of the 'Water Gun".... This was something haven't done in the franchise and I'd love to see more fresh structures like this. The primary reason why you should go into this film blind.

DreamKill I knew this was directed by Derrickson before going in, but even if I wasn't aware of his involvement beforehand, I think I still would've recognized Derrickson's vision and touch behind the camera. His signature usage of grainy/creppy footage, concepts regarding dreams and visions are all present. And they take more ominous and dark route/vibes - not only is it a lot more violent than average Derrickson film, at moments it reminded me of Skinamarink from earlier this year. The Black Phone reference made me soy out - even though I didn't really like that movie! Dreamkill was definitely one of the strongest segments in not only this film, but among the entire franchise. Don't really have any complaints with this one. I think I grew to like Derrickson as a filmmaker more.

Suggestions for the next V/H/S entry: it would be cool to explore the early 2000s / 21st Century; V/H/S/04 or 05 would be cool.

Or just come back to the modern era.

I just watched this and it's definitely better than it's rating right now. The stories are varied with some being splitt into parts and spread out so that we get both variation and familiar parts. There's fear, gore, murders and monsters and most of it is well made and well acted, and it's all sewn together in a period correct nice glitchy VHS chaos. I guess for me it had what I expect from a horror movie but a lot more varied and some of it cooler than I expected, for example the story of the scientists with ..something... behind a one way mirror (slightly reminding me of beyond the black rainbow somehow)

This movie was bad. It started out with a decent segment about a ski trip gone wrong... But everything else was unbelievably bad. I honestly could not wait for this to end. The original VHS had a couple of decent segments and had an eeriness to it, but this was just very very weak. I have watched three movies over the last three days Totally Killer (Prime), Pet Sematary : Bloodlines and VHS 85...Totally Killer was very good.. the other two have completely sucked. I would not recommend 85. I am only still typing because I am required to have 75 more characters. Lol I have wish this movie was better.

For reference, these are my ratings for the previous movies of this franchise:

V/H/S : 7/10.

V/H/S 2: 7/10.

V/H/S VIRAL : 4/10

V/H/S 94 : 4/10

V/H/S 99: 6,4/10.

So, if you strongly disagree with these ratings, my review won't be useful for you.

V/H/S 85 is probably the best vhs movie since the first two movies of this. It's uneven, there are some segments here kinda boring and bland, neither of them is bad though : There were some really trash segments in previous movies. I didn't love the City of Mexico segment but it was watchable and entertaining, had some good acting too.

My favorite segments were NO WAKE and Derrickson's, the one with the videos. There is a lot of creativity here. They could be full movies i think. NO WAKE had a lot of potential, there are so many ideas that could be explored. DREAM KILL was good, too. I'll be the odd man here saying that it was gorier than it should, i mean, if you want to scare the audience, do it in a subtle way. Too much blood and repulsiveness here. If it was less sick, it would be for the best. Probably most people who watch these movies love torture porn. I don't.

GOD OF TECHNOLOGY, probably the worst segment here, still watchable though. And the story with the scientists and the subject promised more than it delivered but it was good for a horror anthology.

In conclusion, lower your expectations, and you will probably enjoy this.

It's the horror franchise with horror segments on VHS tapes. The background story is scientists and a creature. There's a group of young people camping out at the lake. A Mexican news crew gets caught up in earthquakes and a hidden Aztec god. There is a VR segment. There is a reveal of a previous story. The police catches weird teen Gunther who claims to see horrors before they happen.

Like most of this franchise, not every one of the segments work. The young people at the lake needs to be the wrap around story with the reveal at the end. The Mexican earthquakes section is fine although it's funny when the people sway back and forth during the quakes. That reminds me of campy Star Trek. I don't care about the VR section. Like the scientists segments, the fake creature does remind me what this movie is. It's a B-horror doing its B-horror thing.

I have always been a huge fan of the V/H/S franchise and I've liked every single installment so far and when they announced that the next one is called VHS 85, I was pretty excited since I really enjoy movies from this era and I think there are some great B-movies with awesome practical effects. And when I heard that some big names like Scott Derrickson and David Bruckner are involved I was even more excited to watch it.

Now that I've seen it I have to say that I am disappointed. There was only one segment that I really enjoyed, the rest of the segments including the prologue where decent but not as great as I anticipated them to be. The segment that I enjoyed was "God Of Death" by Gigi Saul Guerrero because it reminded me of other V/H/S segments and the plot was rather original and cool. The other segments also didn't lack in originality and definitely not in the gore department but I just thought that they were really weird and trippy and just not entertaining enough. Like I said I didn't think the segments were bad but because my expectations were pretty high I felt empty and disappointed when the credits started rolling.

I think it's time to end this franchise here and maybe start other original anthology movies the way Southbound did in 2015.

For fans of the franchise V/H/S 85 is worth checking out but don't make the same mistake and have your expectations set too high. [6,1/10]

Absolutely dreadful, I love the vhs movie franchise but this one is terrible. Not one of the clips had my full attention during watching this film and it's such a shame! The acting is bad, the stories are bad, most of them don't really make and sense and left me feeling more confused by the time they finished. The previous vhs movies always left me gobsmacked and wanting more from each of them, the stores were always great and shocking, this one however I couldn't wait for it to be finished, I sat waiting for the stores to get better and they just did not! Save your money and your time and find something else to watch!