User reviews

Once again we've got another mixed bag from one of the most inconsistent franchises of all time. The original V/H/S had creative ideas with extremely flawed executions, but it was interesting to see filmmakers explore and experiment with different mediums for horror movies. The series got significantly better in the second installment as the "found footage" format was refined and expanded upon. Sadly the 3rd installment Viral was absolute dogsh!t. The series rebounded somewhat with V/H/S 94 and I was excited for this installment, but it mostly failed to deliver. Overall this is marked by novice writing and sloppy production. It's a collection of amateur filmmakers fumbling with the same mistakes as the original VHS which should have been ironed out of the genre years ago + lack of effort by executives/producers to create a cohesive product. This collection is focused on horror comedy and a mix of pointless, vague, and/or forced 90s tropes which don't add anything. Additionally, being purposefully set in the 90s means the return of awful film quality and the obnoxious, constant camera glitches.

Wrap-around: basically there isn't one. The stop-motion toy solider thing is completely banal and I can't think of a less engaging opening bit. I guess the "wraparound" is supposed to be that the guys in Gawkers are watching the tapes while one of them films these soldiers? Who knows. You see a guy fumbling with a tape for about 2 seconds, yet we get treated to 3 pointless stop motion soldier bits. 0/10

Segment 1 Shredding: I guess this is supposed to follow some kids who are a parody of CKY. They mix in random footage of them doing CKY/Jackass stunts but it had 0 bearing on the actual uh "plot". This is some of the worst found footage horror ever made. Absolutely abysmal, nearly unwatchable camera work and film quality, terrible obnoxious characters, and a completely nonsensical plot. This one dragged on endlessly with no real point. The effects were awful. I was ready to completely give up on VHS 99 at multiple points during this segment. 0/10

Segment 2 Suicide Bid: This was about sorority girls hazing a new girl by burying her in a coffin. It starts to rain so they leave and the coffin floods. This one wasn't great, but compared to the opener it was decent. Somewhat interesting concept and there was good tension when she was in the coffin and it started to flood. Very low budget though and the film quality and effects were pretty bad. 4/10

Segment 3 Ozzy's Dungeon: Whew, things actually start to pick up here. This segment is a parody of Legends of the Hidden Temple/Double Dare. The kids show segment is well done and the humor is well executed without being overdone. However, the second part of this turns into an August Underground style home video gross-out torture porn which was disappointing. It's kind of creative, but it drags on for way too long with too much unnecessary stuff. Felt more like a McKamey Manor video than a horror movie. Thankfully it (finally) picks up again at the end with a cult and demon (kind of like a poor man's Safe Haven from VHS 2) which is rather good but too short - I would have liked the focus to be more on this part. This was the most creative and varied of all the segments, but it needed to be tightened up. 6/10

Segment 4 The Gawkers: In the scope of all the VHS movies this one isn't that good, but for this collection it was one of the best. It follows a group of teenage boys who covertly spy on their hot female neighbor. The boys are obnoxious but extremely believable and the chemistry between them feels very natural. The humor in this one is done well. The segment is short so, despite the small scope, it doesn't lose your interest. The horror stuff at the end is straight forward but done well and is very on brand for these VHS movies. 6/10

Segment 5 To Hell and Back: this opens with some guys filming a cult doing a ritual to summon a demon and they end up being transported to hell. This is the best and tightest of all the segments. It follows an interesting and creative idea that isn't over-explained, and it moves quickly while staying focused. The humor is integrated well and I love how the cult/ritual is never explained so its just these two goofy dudes in NYE outfits fighting their way out of hell which, sans explanation, is hilarious. The sets and location are the most interesting and well utilized of all the segments; the effects are obviously low budget but are the best of the 5. Would like to see these filmmakers in a future segment with a bigger budget. 7.5/10

Overall, this is a weak entry for VHS. It's better than Viral (although that means almost nothing as the bar is absurdly low) but that's it. While some segments are technically more proficient, it lacks the creativity and sense of experimentation/exploration of the original and is all around less focused and less skillfully executed than most of the segments in 2 or 94. You'd expect that with found footage being such a widespread horror genre that these anthologies would get more innovative and artistic over time, but this doesn't deliver much in that regard. It's pretty clear they went with cheaper films by more amateur directors/crews to quickly cash in on the previous success of the franchise without trying to improve upon it or explore new avenues. While not a total flop, this is a disappointment and should not have been as bad as it was. Let's hope they work harder on the next one.

I have to start by saying the main poster for this film featuring hell with the camera lense eyed face at the top is a truly great poster. It says in the trivia that after the success of 'V/H/S/94' this was rushed into production and it sadly feels that way a bit. It's not a bad entry in the series, however it isn't close to the best.

A brief analysis of the segments:

Shredding - Probably my least favourite segment. Not very creative and nothing new or memorable about it.

Suicide Bid - The stuff in the coffin was very claustrophobic and effective. The ending I could have down without, however a 'V/H/S' movie has to 'V/H/S'. All said, probably my favourite segment.

Ozzy's Dungeon - I thought I was really going to enjoy this one until it went down a completely different path to what I expected. There was so much potential and it was set up so well. Then it fell apart. Very disappointing.

The Gawkers - This one was decent. Spends a lot of time setting everything up and then it's over a little too quickly. This was a strong enough concept to get a full length feature out of.

To Hell And Back - I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The idea is a good one. The execution didn't quite live up to the concept however. It never really felt like they were in hell.

2/5 would get pass marks for me. I will give the overall film a 6/10.

1. Suicide Bid 2. Shredding 3. The Gawkers 4. Ozzy's Dungeon 5. To Hell And Back

V/H/S/99 is the latest in the mixed bag that makes up the V/H/S franchise. Of the five stories, none are particularly awful yet none hit some of the heights previous V/H/S' have managed.

An 1hr 50m for this kind of anthology is rather long and the running time begins to tell the longer it goes on. Ozzy's Dungeon has lots of potential but begins to bore. Same goes for To Hell And Back. The most accomplished piece is Suicide Bid which contains the better scares with a neat ending.

V/H/S/99 is a shudder exclusive and is the perfect platform for a series of it's kind. There is a sequel already announced called V/H/S/85 coming to shudder as well and so far V/H/S still has legs.

I have been a VHS loyalist since the beginning and even liked 1984. Has every segment ever been a homer in? No. But there's always a diamond or two in the rough. This time around there was quite literally nothing redeeming. Even gawker which should have been the best was wasted with filler and a boring climax. It was like a "Lily" rip-off with none of the tension. Man I can't believe every segment was a dud but here we are. Give some new writers a chance or at least be honest with yourselves when reading the scripts and weed out the garbage. Otherwise this franchises will suffer even further..

V/H/S as a franchise has had its ups and downs over the years. From an experimental first entry to the cranked-up-to-11 sequel to the massively disappointing "Viral" and then to the unexpected "94" comeback, suffice to say inconsistent greatness could summarize these series of found footage films. Alas, with "99" the formula has been essentially perfected and refined after the feedback from last year's entry.

Gone is the tedious wraparound that always meant at least 1/5th of the film would be substantially subpar. Gone is the visual and thematic inconsistency throughout the shorts. Gone is that one segment in particular that always stands out as inferior. In fact, it's hard to say which one is the best this time - a good sign.

"99" brings us five deliciously gory and disturbing videos that not only share the late 90s visual aesthetic, but also a varied roster of ghouls, ghosts, mythological creatures, urban legends, cosmic horrorrs and literal winged demons that are each fantastically well made and placed in stories that more than.

I have no idea what the Bloody Disgusting team was thinking here. This was like a bad joke. There is nothing..not one thing..scary in this movie. If anyone says otherwise, they need their head checked. The segments are all cheap, creature features. I'm talking CHEAP and not a single segment even remotely based in reality. This feels like they took some rejected submissions to VHS 94, slapped them together, and went for cash grab.

I love found footage footage. As much as I didn't like Viral, I still really hoped it would do well so we would get more installments. I figured they'd rebound the next go round..and they did, at times. They've proven incapable of matching the quality of their first 2 but they still put out some solid segments. So, my vote was to keep them coming. A few good VHS stories are better than no VHS stories. I guess I still feel that way. If another comes, I'll check it out. If not, RIP. I doubt anybody cares at this point.

I don't know what film the other reviewers watched but V/H/S 99 is the worst. Boring, predictable and God awful. I'm a huge fan of the first two, a little less with Viral and 94 but this film one will find in the bargin bin probably by days end. Tedious and hard to watch. Trust me on this, really bad. I had to take a break from it twice now and actually have it paused as we speak to write this review. From the opening short that ties the others together seems almost like a bad parody of the original to the others it's like making a wish for heaven and waking up in hell. I've been counting the days for the film to drop on Shudder and now I'm counting the minutes for the film to end. It's been a bleak year for horror films to live up to the hype, from Halloween Ends to Malignant, all have fallen short but V/H/S 99 really has surpassed in the disappointment level. Watch the original and spare yourself from this mess of a film.

Watch enough of these modern horror anthologies and you quickly catch on to an annoying running theme: without a lot of room to build enough runway for a meaningful narrative, many shorts devolve in to horrible people committing over-the-top violence with very little justification, until circumstances escalate so much that something crazy happens and you move on to the next short.

It is pointless and often times just weirdly mean for no good reason. There's no good ending, there's no bad ending, but everybody's dead now whether they deserved it or not. It is horror at its most basic, where creative kills are more important than anything surrounding them. Personally speaking, I wish for more.

V/H/S/99 has a lot of those kinds of stories. And lots and lots and lots of name drops to things that existed in 1999, in that super obvious way where an actor will practically look straight in to the camera and say "let's listen to Limp Bizkit and eat Hot Pockets, then later do you want to hang out at Blockbuster, or Radio Shack?" because they know and you know that's something from 1999. It's the Stranger Things school of nostalgia. A life only defined by its pop-culture branding.

Still, it's better than some of the other V/H/S sequels, so at least there's that.

The truly standout short here is the finale, "To Hell And Back", by the same group that did this year's equally awesome Deadstream for Shudder. It's also the only short to specifically refer to 1999 as being the turn of the millennium. It may have redeemed the entire anthology for me.

Let me start by saying I wasn't overly optimistic when I saw who the writers were. That, coupled with this year being such a huge letdown horror wise rang all kinds of alarm bells. Nonetheless, I still went with some expectations because it's VHS movie, so it has to be at least decent, right? Dead wrong.

I'm going to break it down by segments:

The only segment that was somewhat interesting (and I'm being very generous here), was The Gawkers. And by interesting I mean the ending of it. There's so much they could've done with it, won't spoil but you know which mythical creature I'm talking about here. We Summon The Darkness and Tragedy Girls were good so I'm not surprised this was the only segment that was decent. 5/10

Moving on, To Hell and Back was the second one in this movie. Subpar and below standards (4/10) but it wasn't outright catastrophic. Acting was good and it comes from same people who wrote Deadstream so it was watchable.

Shredding. I knew movie was going to suck when the first segment didn't deliver. I have no ide who Maggie Levin is except that she's known for The Black Phone (which was awful) and this didn't deliver either. There was no scare factor and it was extremely straightforward. Not overly bad, just kinda pointless. 3/10

Suicide Bid. I honestly have no clue why would anyone make this? It wasn't scary, wasn't interesting, there was no investment in character(s), just why? It was so blank and empty. 2.5/10 if I'm being generous

And finally - Ozzy's Dungeon. The worst segment I've ever seen in any VHS film. Absolutely horrendous and catastrophic in every single aspect. Have no idea who "Flying Lotus" is but this was so, so bad. Amateur level. 1/10

Overall, I have to give it a 3/10 because of two stories being watchable but that's as much as I can give. Such a shame another franchise is ruined by this. Horrible. I'm so disappointed.

While I understand the love for horror in the 90's and how much of a big thing it was, it's now been done twice and I think it's enough, 94 & 99 still doesn't beat V/H/S 1 and 2, the 94 and 99 V/H/S movies are just based on gore, nothing else, with V/H/S 1 and 2 we had a mixture of zombies, aliens, demons, the paranormal, witches and other types of creatures, if they are going to create a V/H/S for next year I just hope they will do a V/H/S movie which is modernised and set within the 21st century and bring some new creativity of weird things we haven't seen before just exactly like the first 2 movies shown us & V/H/S 1 & 2 understood what people wanted from found footage, however after an early screening & watching V/H/S 99, it isn't bad but don't expect it to be as good as the first 2.

This movie made me understand something about sequels and franchises. That first V/H/S movie was so good that I can't help but to gravitate whenever they make another in hopes that sequel is that good?

Was it that good? It could have been so much better, but it had its moments that made it for me. I can't help but to totally love the 90s nostalgia the film was giving off cause that's my time. From the music and up to the found footage itself. I loved the way it looked. And just like the first film this one has a story about a monster that was just perfect.

That one story did it for me in the first V/H/S movie. For V/H/S 99 it will at least make it memorable.

The first 3 movies are absolute treasures, but these new cash-ins lack all the underground gritty realism and engrossing segments.

The first 3 movies felt like you were watching some cursed or random snuff VHS that had been unearthed. These 90's installments feel like some kids decided to create their own little creepypasta style shots and it just falls flat and feels empty, the bad CGI doesn't help either. Some segments have decent story ideas but either bad acting, CGI, or dialogue ruin it.

Like '94 there's only one good segment, and the overarching shots between segments is bland. Still waiting for the series to get back to its original brilliance.

VHS 1 & 2 are still easily the best. Then I'd say '94, then this or 'Viral' for last place. I haven't seen 'Viral' since it released because I remember it being just too terrible, but this one was pretty awful too. There was no suspense in any of the segments in this one, except for when the girl is buried in the cemetary, but that segment is ruined when the monster shows up and looks cheaper than if I made a monster mask out of paper and mud.

'94' at least had Raatma, which I hoped would return in '99' since Raatma was the standout segment, but no. The connecting story of this movie makes no sense, not that any of the 'VHS' connecting storylines made much sense, but this one is complete nonsensical trash.

As for the segments themselves, they were all bad. Almost all the segments were just lame campfire stories/urban legends that were lamely executed. This movie also lacked the gritty, gross and snuff-like feel that the best 'VHS' movies offered. Also, none of the kids in this acted or spoke like they were from the '90s, they sounded like your typical annoying Fortniters or Minecrafters.

The first 2 'VHS' movies (and even some bits of '94') had a vibe to them where you felt like you were going to end up as a segment for just watching such a nasty-looking cursed film. But for '99', I felt like sitting through it was worse than ending up as a segment. A step down from '94', and a giant leap down from 'VHS' 1 & 2.

Hands down the best part of this movie was a hilarious performance from Steven Ogg.

3/10.

This is a very solid entry in the painfully underrated V/H/S franchise it has fantastic practical and special effects I appreciate that it does more with the idea of being set in the 90s than V/H/S 94 like game shows mentions of Y2K old computers very nostalgic but I do believe this movie falls a little heavy on the over the top comedy side of things where I believe 94 shined a little more in the horror field I prefer 94 a little more than this one it's definitely worth giving a watch if you can get a free trial for Shudder if you are a fan of the rest of the films you are almost certain to get some enjoyment out of this film just go in with the expectations of a lot of comedy or goofiness at the beginning of the shorts besides a few but when the horror peaks it's a thrill!

Shredding, The Gawkers and Ozzy's Dungeon are terrible, Suicide Bid is ok and To Hell and Back is great. All in all easily the worst out of the franchise - Yes you heard that right, it's worse than Viral, because the segments in Viral at least tried to be scary and captivating, unlike V/H/S 99, which focused on scarying the audience with repulsiveness and completely forgot everything else.

If you do not like disugsting nonsense please skip Ozzy's Dungeon. And if you do not like boring, obnoxious characters and mindless nonsense skip everything except To Hell and Back.

If I have learned one thing from this movie, it's that everyone in the late 90s was an a**hole.

I think it's a bit underrated. To put that into perspective, i consider the first two movies of V/H/S franchise good horror movies. And i really disliked V/H/S 94 and V/H/S VIRAL. So, if you disagree with this, there is no need to read this review, it will mislead you.

My favorite segment was the last one. It's so creative that it should have been a full movie. THE GAWKERS segment was good too. Basically, i liked every element here, except maybe Ozzy's Dungeon because it didn't make sense, its ending was dumb.

If you are over 35 years old, you will realise how accurate is the depiction of late 90's/early 00's. This is the strongest aspect of the movie. It captures this Zeitgeist.

It's not a great movie, it's deliberately dumb and naive and for sure, it's forgettable. However, it was a fun ride and i enjoyed it.

I was a big fan of the first three VHS movies. I wasn't as wowed by VHS 94 but, overall, it was worth watching. This abomination of a follow up is an absolute disgrace to the series.

The individual stories dragged on, and on, and on, and on. Obviously the budget for this crap was non-existent. The entire movie was, I suspect, filmed using the same VHS camera. The only reason they stuck with this format was to try to disguise the 'effects' that looked like something a group of untalented highschoolers threw together. The segments were so tedious I was fast forwarding before the second story was halfway through.

Do yourself a favour and watch/rewatch ANY of the previous VHS movies, because this one is the final nail in the coffin of a once great series.

The movie has 5 short stories by different directors.

I'm not a huge fan of the VHS franchise and genuinely hated the first two parts. I was about to switch off (rate 1/10). Beyond my grasp why "Flying Lotus" is still allowed to direct horror films.

Now, 3rd and 4th were a little entertaining, so i kept watching.

And with the 5th part, the viewer is greatly rewarded. "To Hell and Back" is amazing (rate 8/10). Joseph and Vanessa Winter are incredible new indie horror directors. I can also recommend "Deadstream" and will be on the lookout for more movies from these two.

My 4/10 rating is a summery for all parts.

First V/H/S was a great anthology movie! As was the second. Third one was watchable. This one was just dreadful! I labored through an hour of it before having to quit and find something else to watch. Each of the segments in the film seemed haphazardly thrown together by children trying to imagine what the 90s were like. Add to that, the poor footage quality drove me nuts. A lot of found footage movies tend to add this effect to represent and old or damaged tape, but this one went way overboard, apparently in an attempt to help obscure the piss poor acting and low budget sets. Trust me ... don't waste your time with this crap.

As likely the biggest fan of the v/h/s series to leave a review, this movie was better than 94 but not better than the first two and maybe not even viral. Many people talk trash about viral when in actuality it has aged pretty well and it's a nice addition to revisit over time. 94 is too cheap, shlocky and artificially static-y. This film though, the 5th in the series, is a step up(or a step back in a good way if you will) in style and rendition. We get raw feeling segments with interesting stories. Finally, we are back into the world with several characters after 94 and it's so obvious covid safe feel. There are some strong segments here. Actually all of them besides the first one about the band are rather decent.. there is a good amount of blood and gore yet nothing like the first two movies. I wish they'd bring back the original mumblecore team to write and direct the segments in the next entry. With respect, no one else will ever be able give the true fans what they want from this series. Overall. I liked it a lot. I'm a biased fan because this series is the epitome of what I love in a horror film, but on the same token, I'd be the first to say if it wasn't good. It is good though a d I'd say It's a true horror film. A fun midnight horror romp. Best segments are ozzys dungeon and the gawker. The last segment from the winters couple is also pretty good. They are stamping their place in indie horror with this and their previous and recent film, "Deadstream"

The Good: I'm very happy VHS 99 refrains from the overarching storylines, which more often than not, interrupt the storyline and aren't particularly interesting. This is a good ol' fashioned anthology and I liked that.

The Gawkers is easily the best of the bunch, the chemistry between the teenage boys felt the most natural. The concept was formulaic, but elevated because of the choice of monster and the surprisingly decent acting.

The Suicide Bid was pretty terrible for a good chunk, but the latter half becomes nightmarish and could've worked without the supernatural elements. It was easily the scariest aspect of the whole movie.

The Bad: The problem with VHS is that, as with every other entry in the series, the vast majority of the stories are forgettable at best and actively awful at worst. The acting is horrendous in the majority of these stories (especially 1, 2, and 5) and it really took me out of the story. They become more laughable than anything else.

Outside of The Gawkers, I kind of felt like setting this in 1999 was basically inconsequential to the plot. In fact, there were slang terms used in many of these stories that were clearly anachronistic (why are people saying hella, why?). It doesn't help that the majority of characters are utterly awful people and hard to bear watching, let alone connect with.

The visuals are flat out ugly for a majority of this movie. While I like the use practical effects, most of these ghouls look like stuff you'd see at a cheap neighbourhood haunted house. Some of the stories (especially the first) is so muddled with visual distortions that it becomes borderline unwatchable at points.

I also actively really hated some of these stories. Then Ozymandias Dungeon started off kind of cool and interesting, but then devolves into budget torture porn (really, in 2022) and then veers off into the direction of randomness by the end of it. A lot of these stories do; they rely on shock value and gore to make up for anything interesting or compelling.

The Ugly: I think a lot of people give VHS a pass because it's clearly a low budget movie made by people who love horror. But, these movies are almost always disappointing. While it gets better by the end, it's like going to a bad restaurant and being okay with the pre-made ice cream dessert at the end. Sure, it's better than nothing, but it's still doesn't make up for a bad experience overall.

VHS 99 doesn't even have a Timo Tjahjanto to elevate the thing and give us a genuinely good short to watch on its own. There are endless choices for horror this Halloween. Don't waste it on this one.