During a recording of a TV program called "Total Copy" which documents a tragic circumstance in which scientists studied a shapeshifting being known as "Rory", the footage is periodically interrupted by footage from five other stories dealing with the supernatural.
V/H/S/85 is the sixth installment in the V/H/S franchise and third overall made and released for horror based streaming service Shudder. Secretly filmed back to back with prior installment V/H/S/99 and featuring much of the same producing team, V/H/S/85 continues its run with an installment that I personally feel is the best since V/H/S/2.
The frame story, Total Copy directed by David Bruckner and written by David Bruckner, follows an episode of a television docuseries called Total Copy which details a group of scientists observing a shapeshifting entity known as "Rory" while hinting at a tragic fate that befell the team. A mixture of homages to the likes of Unsolved Mysteries with mixtures of E. T. inspired first contact films as well as John Carpenter's The Thing, the short does a good job of establishing the look and feel for its era nicely capturing the framing and aesthetics of an 80s VHS recording of a TV program. It doesn't break too far from its Thing-esque influences, but it does lead to a darkly humorous payoff.
The first short, No Wake written and directed by Mike P. Nelson follows a group of friends and siblings on a trip to a lake where an excursion of fun turns into a nightmare as they're shot at by an unseen shooter. Despite featuring the old standard of "friends off to the (blank) to party", Nelson knows how to make the characters more endearing than annoying as has been the sin of some who utilize the formula (even in prior V/H/S segments. While the segment starts as a relatively more grounded trip into fear than typical for a V/H/S, it keeps going after its conclusion in a unique way that segues nicely into a later segment.
The next segment, God of Death written and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero, follows a Mexican news crew whose broadcast is interrupted during an Earthquake leaving only the cameraman alive in the studio who is escorted out by a rescue team while still recording. As the group are forced to travel further downward due to the quake having cut off above ground access points, they soon come across an ancient evil. The segment features a pretty convincing sense of scale with how big Guerrero manages to make the quake seem even as the action remains relatively confined and the sense of claustrophobia is nicely done. Once again it's pretty standard stuff as it plays like a shorter version of The Descent only with more cultural specific elements used in the payoff, but they're well constructed and feature some impressive work on display.
The third segment, TKNOGD (pronounced technogod) written by Zoe Cooper and directed by Natasha Kermani, follows a performance artist named Ada Lovelace putting on a performance detailing the death of the old gods by mankind in favor of the new god of technology utilizing a new VR system to summon this god into existence only to prove it to be very real. Playing like a mixture of Tron, Hellraiser, and a one woman stage show, I felt the short did an interesting job setting up tension and unease in a circumstance in which there's really only one active character and the incorporation of the VR gimmick was nicely done while still fitting within the 80s aesthetic.
The fourth segment, Ambrosia written and directed by Mike P. Nelson, follows what at first seems like a family celebration of their daughter's completion of some rite of passage only to be revealed to be something darker and inhuman. Playing as a payoff to No Wake the opening segment where it's staged like a graduation or birthday party with guests talking about acts of evil as casually as family reunion anecdotes is low key disturbing even if it's not as scary as No Wake by removing some of the mystique of the attack. It's more or less a form of comeuppance for the No Wake story complete with appropriate punishment, but it does have a memorable stinger at the end.
The final segment, Dreamkill directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and collaborator C. Robert Cargill is definitely the standout of the group as it features the documenting of a police investigation where brutal murders recorded on VHS tapes are sent to the police station before the murders have even been committed. Taking elements of police procedural as well as more fantastical genre fare like Dreamscape or The Dead Zone, Derrickson and Cargill craft an engrossing mystery with a strong sense of dread. The two also manage to play with the VHS format in a really clever way by allowing more freedom by crafting an explanation for the tapes that was really very interesting and leads to a climax that's equal parts chilling and violent. This segment is honestly so good I kind of hope they consider giving it the feature treatment like other other VHS spin-offs Siren or Kids vs. Aliens.
V/H/S/85 is a really good entry in this anthology series and is probably the most I've liked an entry in this franchise since the second one as its definitely the most consistently good with none of the segments ever feeling like a drag on the overall quality. Definitely a high point for the series and leaves you wanting more.
