V/H/S/94

 "V/H/S/94" (2021, Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Ryan Prows, Steven Kostanski, Radio Silence Productions, Bloody Disgusting Films, Shudder Original Films) is a found footage horror anthology and the fourth installment in the V/H/S franchise. 

It's 1994 and a SWAT team enter an abandoned building and discover a series of VHS cassettes which we then watch in order. 

"Storm Drain" is an entertaining story of a reporter (Anna Hopkins) and cameraman (Christian Potenza) who are investigating the sighting of local urban legend "Ratman" and enter the storm sewers to uncover the truth. Upon finding a group of people living in there, they decide it's an opportunity to do a more serious human interest story but, unfortunately for them, the local legend may be more real than they thought! 

A pretty good segment with good pacing and some fun effects. 

"The Empty Wake" is by far my favourite segment of the film. Hayley (Kyal Legend) is a young woman working at a funeral home. She's been asked to hold the wake of a man named Andrew alone at night. After a while with no visitors, she begins to try and find out more about the death of Andrew when suddenly she hears what sounds like knocking coming from the coffin...

A pretty decent jump-fest. The segment builds up slowly before unleashing the actual scares, but, once there it's pretty fast paced. Some fun effects and, even if you feel like you knew where it was going, it's a really strong execution. 

"The Subject" is a story of a mad scientist (Budi Ross) engaging in human-machine vivisection and a team of army personnel on his trail to try and rescue some of his unwilling test subjects. 

We see most of the story in first-person style through the 'eyes' of one of his creations (Shania). The segment boasts some creative camera-work and pretty impressive 'off-screen' acting from our determined 'creature'. However, the action is pretty videogame-like and did feel like it overstayed its welcome a little (and I say this as someone who likes playing videogames). But the action is truly gory and pretty satisfying to watch.

"Terror" is about a group of insurrectionists in America who are planning to attack a federal building. This segment was the weakest in my opinion and didn't hold my interest extremely well. The humour felt somewhat misplaced in comparison to the other segments, although it maintained the same level of gore. 

The wraparound "Holy Hell" is functional but not a standout part of the film, although I did enjoy the 90s advert for "The Veggie Masher". Very entertaining. 

All in all, this is the first time I've really enjoyed a V/H/S installment since the original film, and it felt pretty innovative. The pacing is still an issue, but this is part and parcel with horror anthologies as a whole. 

Available to stream on Shudder.

[Image: Shudder, et al]

Hani

Nightbooks

 "Nightbooks" (2021, David Yarovesky, Ghost House Pictures, MXN Entertainment, Catchlight Studios, Netflix) is a fun horror for kids based on the book by J.A. White.

Alex (Winslow Fegley) is a young horror fan who likes to write his own scary stories. After a disappointing horror themed birthday party, he swears never to write a scary story again and takes his notebooks down to the building's basement with the intention of burning them in the furnace. However, en route he discovers a mysterious floor of the building and enters a strange apartment, which turns out to be owned by a witch called Natacha (Krysten Ritter), who holds him prisoner and tells him he must tell her a scary story each night or else! 

While the witch sleeps, Alex and his fellow captive, Yazmin (Lidya Jewett), who has been stuck in the witch's apartment acting as her housemaid for several years, attempt to find a way to escape and unlock some interesting secrets along the way.

A fun horror aimed at kids, "Nightbooks" delivers some festive scares and action as well as some important messages about wandering into stranger's apartments. Yazmin and Alex learn to work together through the film to try and outwit the evil witch.

Sporting some great effects and a rather terrifying magic cat, "Nightbooks" is sure to appeal to young horror fans in the making and is a fun adventure for adults, too. A welcome entry to the annual Halloween countdown and somewhat reminiscent of other great kids' horrors such as "The Monster Squad" (1987).

[Image: Ghost House Pictures, et al]

Hani

No One Gets Out Alive

"No One Gets Out Alive" (2021, Santiago Menghini, The Imaginarium, Netflix).

Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) moves to Cleveland after her mother dies. As an undocumented immigrant, she finds herself at the mercy of some devious and exploitative characters, including Red (Marc Menchaca), the owner of an old boarding house who demands rent in cash up-front in exchange for not asking Ambar any questions. The boarding house is large, run-down and apparently, only accepts female tenants. Ambar experiences some odd things in the house, but chalks it up to other tenants' behaviour. Besides, she has bigger concerns like finding a job. 

After a co-worker scams her out of most of her savings and the spooky happenings in the house become more intense, Ambar seeks help from a distant cousin, Beto (David Barrera), but when he is unable to help her, she is forced to ask Red instead and this plays right into his and his brother Becker's (David Figlioli) grim plans...

A fairly serviceable haunted house story with a cast of interesting characters and exploration of some very real life horrors. The effects are good and Rodlo cuts a sympathetic protagonist who is also very resourceful. 

The film doesn't go into much detail of the history behind the spookiness and it feels a little unexplored which robs the ending of a bit of oomph. An impressive creature is present, but we don't get too much time with them and it feels less like a 'less is more' approach and more of an 'out of the blue' approach as a viewer. 

Currently available on Netflix.

[Image: The Imaginarium, et al]

Hani