Another movie in the ever growing V/H/S franchise that is definitely set in the 1980s. Once again we get a framing device, this time titled Total Copy which I guess is a movie in its own right if we have to be charitable, and another five short movies. The gimmick here is that everything is found footage, standard fare for the franchise, and of course the setting is the 1980s during the horrors of Reganomics and the television fitness craze of the time. The whole concept of the movie is things were filmed on the old VHS format and I have to say they got this exactly right, with all sorts of issues with the various tapes that you don’t have on later digital formats. If you have ever sat through a worn VHS movie, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about here. Unfortunately, overall, with a couple of notable exceptions, the movie is boring and incoherent in parts. Maybe the franchise is getting past its use by date now, though I note yet another instalment has dropped recently. Okay let’s journey back to the 1980s and check this one out, wearing a leotard is optional okay, but you be you.

Standard franchise tactics is to use a framing device to explain the videos we are viewing, i.e. how they got to be on our screens. Nope don’t get that this time round, and to be honest it’s not going to be the first time something is left unexplained and the audience really not caring. David Bruckner presents Total Copy, which isn’t so much a framing device but footage that is interspersed throughout the disjointed narrative of 1985. A group of researchers at a University have themselves a shape shifter, which is never explained – monster or alien, apparently the viewer is not important enough to tell, and anyways long story short it doesn’t end well as I guess we go Lovecraft, with a slight twist. Not entirely sure if this one is a horror flick or a shaggy dog story, you’ll have to wait to the end of the movie to make your own mind up.

Our first real story is No Wake from Mike P. Nelson, which leaves more questions than answers, seriously do the Producers of 1985 even know punters can think but need some grist for the mill. Anyways a group of twenty somethings, who all look to be in their thirties, arrive at a lake for booze, sex, and water skiing. Things are going well, a couple stay on shore for no doubt some sexy time, while the rest head out on the water. We get enough coverage to work out all these characters know each other and are rocking out their holiday, when suddenly the situation is broken by a hidden snipper who is happily picking off our group of party animals. Who is the sniper? Who knows, it does get explained in a later video for anyone interested. Now we get the kicker, the victims on the water resurrect like it’s going out of fashion. Nope we aren’t talking zombies here exactly, the resurrected have their full mental capacities, even the ones shot in the head. We soon learn that it is only those exposed to the lake water that resurrect, everyone else is headed to that great cinema in the sky. Why this is the case, don’t know, why are people resurrecting, don’t know hey just a punter paying the price of admission here.

Gigi Saul Guerrero delivers God of Death, perhaps the best episode of the entire movie, actually forget perhaps replace it with definitely. We are in Mexico City checking out a local news television crew. Which is just as well as a major earthquake hits the City and we go from news coverage to survival horror as a rescue team are trapped in a collapsed building and have to find a way out of their predicament. Unfortunately, all roads seem to lead to under the News agency building, and our survivors head steadily downward till they discover something unexpected below the building. Not given anything away, and except from one character who suddenly changes her outlook on life, I was rocking to this video. Am going to check out more of Guerrero’s work, as a horror directory she is definitely on point.

Our second female director of the evening, Natasha Kermani, presents definitely the worse video of any of the V/H/S wide ranging selections in TKNOGD. A turd so incredibly boring that it made the idea of watching paint drying appealing. The video drags on for what seems like feature length time as Chivonne Michelle prances round a stage in front of a small audience presenting the worse performance art I have ever experienced. The monologue is overdramatic, the effects would embarrass your ginger haired inbred nephew if he created them on his Commodore 64, and the video becomes simply a drag to get through. Seriously, who in their right mind thought this was of any merit. Slight smile to my face as Michelle is ripped apart by a techno God, getit, because it signified the end of the video and also I was amused by the audience politely clapping as they think it’s all part of the show. Remind me to never ever go to see anything remotely in the performance art sphere. 

After indulging Kermani we get better fare in Mike P. Nelson’s Ambrosia, another decent entry in the franchise. This video works as a companion piece to No Wake as we find out who was the shooter in the former video. Evie Bair is shooting the people at the lake with a rifle as part of an initiation into a family cult. Unfortunately, why she is shooting people is never explained, and who exactly the inbred looking family is doesn’t even get hinted at. At the end of the video we have more resurrections, cause you know, the waters of life, I don’t know I’m just paying to watch this schlock. Anyways Ambrosia worked for me and would love to see a feature length based on it made.

And finally we have Dreamkill, another excellent episode which rounds out our viewing list. We have a series of what appears to be snuff movies in the episode, actually this would once again make a decent full length flick. But hey the last time they tried to make a feature length from this franchise it didn’t exactly have the punters out in force. Anyways the local police are receiving videos of the murders, from I guess the antagonist's position – which is somewhat of a unique idea, and it turns out the Goth son of one of the investigating Coppers is sending in the vids! Shocker right, you are either going to work out the twist from the get go or whatever, I actually didn’t, but catch the episode to check it out. Was pleasantly surprised how engrossing this one was.

Once again we get five episodes and a framing device, which to be honest isn’t a framing device, but I guess punters are expecting that to be going down. A mixed bag folks God of Death, Ambrosia, and Dreamkill were decent flicks, the rest were terrible if we won’t to be perfectly honest about things. The framing movie, No Copy was juvenile at best, and would have failed most decent film schools if entered as a final year project. For those who want to fill out their V/H/S dance card, the movie is available on the high street, JB HIFI Downunder for example, and has dropped sometime in the past on Shudder. Slight detour here kids, shudder.com should be a required streaming service for any horror fan, plenty of indie content, and hey it is rocking a lot of Southern titles kids.

So another anthology of found footage, which is a mixed bag for the viewer. Unfortunately, a few major issues, a lot of questions go unanswered, the film makers clearly don’t give a flying frack about the audience, and a lot of disjointed content. I’m giving a mild recommendation, this one is kind of hey let’s watch it we haven’t got anything else available. If this anthology was spending its time offering new movie makers to the audience it would have value, but it has a bunch of established horror makers and it isn’t their best work. If you have a shudder account then have at it, otherwise you are not going to be missing much beside the highlighted episodes.