The V/H/S series f films have been a success in the horror genre for Shudder. I have never actually seen any of the V/H/S films prior to the newest one. I had a chance to watch V/H/S/99 on Shudder this Halloween weekend. It was an anthology found footage horror film with five separate stories, all set in 1999. There are several odd interludes between the shorts that focused on a bunch of toy soldiers that were being filmed in a stop-motion manner, filmed by Brady, who was shown later in the film. It was a weird, but enjoyable interlude.

As most anthology films, some of the entries are better than the others. V/H/S/99 have five entries which included: “Shredding”, “Suicide Bid”, “Ozzy’s Dungeon”, “The Gawkers” and “To Hell and Back.”

Each of the stories had protagonists that were horribly rotten people. However, many of them got some form of comeuppance as the story progressed, leaving some form of satisfaction.

My personal favorite of the five stories was either “Ozzy’s Dungeon” or “Suicide Bid.” My least favorite of the film was “Shredding,” by far. “Ozzy’s Dungeon” was about a horrendous game show that kids participated in for a chance to gain their heart’s wish. General Hospital’s Epiphany, Sonya Eddy, appeared as the mother of the girl who had been horribly injured in the game show’s obstacle course and her Eddy came back with vengeance against the host on her mind. I’ve never seen Epiphany this way before and her mouth was foul as could be.

“Suicide Bid” was a college freshman named Lily (Alexia “Ally” Ioannides) who was desperate to join a sorority. In order to be inducted into the sorority, Lily had to spend the night in a coffin, buried alive. The other girls were utterly horrible and tormented Lily beyond any reasonable level, but it created a ton of tension and anxiety over what was going to happen to Lily.

I did like the fact that it seemed as if the film was most practical effects and not just some CGI fest.

Overall, V/H/S/99 was mixed for me. There were some of the stories that I enjoyed and a few that felt like a chore to get through. There was some creative kills in the horror film and the use of the found footage technique was effective for this movie. This film did make me somewhat interested in previous V/H/S films and for the next sequel next year, V/H/S/85.

3.1 stars