V/H/S/94 is a 2021 Found Footage anthology film featuring segments directed by franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto, in addition to newcomers Jennifer Reeder, Ryan Prows and Chloe Okun. It follows 2012's V/H/S, 2013's V/H/S/2 and 2014's V/H/S: Viral, acting as a prequel/reboot to those films. It was the return of the series from its dormancy after the release of Viral. A fifth entry, V/H/S/99, debuted on Shudder October 20, 2022 and a sixth film, V/H/S/85, released on the service in October 6, 2023.
In the year 1994, a SWAT team unit and their cameraman raid a supposed drug lab only to find a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy. Upon searching, they find multiple horrifying cassettes:
- Holy Hell: The wraparound segment, wherein the SWAT team surveys the warehouse containing the supposed drug lab, only to find several televisions, mannequins, and dead bodies with their eyes gouged out, among other surreal and horrific occurrences.
- Storm Drain: News reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman Jeff descend into their town's sewer system as part of a report on the "Rat Man", a creature of local legend that supposedly lives in said sewers. The duo end up finding the creature, only to discover far too late that it serves as the godhead for a group of homeless people and a deranged minister, who plan to use it to establish a new world order.
- The Empty Wake: Hailey, the new hire at Jensen Funeral Home, is assigned to host the wake of a man named Andrew Edwards, the service being filmed at the request of his family. After a long while of eerie silence, Hailey begins hearing noises coming from inside the casket, possibly signifying that Andrew may be alive. What's worse, a massive storm is brewing and the funeral home is chained up tight, leaving her with no possible way to escape as Andrew's reanimated corpse attacks her.
- The Subject: In Indonesia, Mad Scientist James Suhendra has been aspiring to create a functioning human/robot hybrid as a means of pushing the human body's limits, using kidnapped citizens as guinea pigs. He manages to successfully create two cyborgs: the hostile and mindless Subject 98, and the scared and docile Subject 99 (referred to by the initials "S.A." on a news report), whose cybernetics house a camera she sees through. When a squad of militarized police break in and murder James, Subject 99 manages to break free of her containment and seeks a way to escape the lab, all the while evading Subject 98, and the police officers who consider her a threat.
- Terror: The First Patriots Movement Militia, a group of extremist rednecks, are plotting to film themselves blowing up a local government building in a ploy to "purge evil from America". The secret weapon for their plan is revealed to be a captured vampire, who is regularly shot in the head and has his blood siphoned by the group, the blood itself revealed to be explosive when exposed to sunlight. While celebrating a successful test of the vampire's exploding blood, the group get drunk and accidentally release the vampire, and thus must work together to recapture it before it escapes.
This movie provides examples of the following:
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In General
- Crapsack World: More than the previous entries, all of the individual tapes all directly contribute to the overarching narrative; meaning the world explicitly plays host to mutliple cults, vampires, zombies, and biopunk mad scientists to name a few.
- Darker and Edgier: While there is still a not-insignificant amount of Black Comedy present, this is easily the darkest and most violent and gory entry in the series.
- Tamer and Chaster: Unlike previous entries, this one features absolutely no sexual content; and the only nudity is brief and as far from titillating as possible.
Holy Hell
- Asshole Victim: Turns out Slater is a member of the white nationalist operation in "Terror" and was supplying them with weapons. Little hard to feel sorry for him when he's tortured and killed.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Petro and Nash succeed in killing their entire team on film, even anticipating what they're going to call their latest work.
- Evil All Along: Slater is a traitor to the United States and a white supremacist who gives weapons to terrorist groups.
- Eye Scream: Plenty of people within the building are shown to have plucked their own eyes out.
- The Reveal: Petro and Nash, two members of the SWAT team, are revealed to be heavily involved in the Snuff Film cult operating out of the warehouse, having lured their team there to kill them on camera for their latest masterpiece.
- Stylistic Suck: The wooden and unconvincing acting and stiff, gratuitously vulgar dialogue are very clearly intentional as a tribute to the low-budget underground exploitation films from this era that the wraparound segments are paying tribute to.
Storm Drain
- Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time Anna Hopkins has played an Intrepid Reporter.
- Affably Evil: Holly's Intrepid Reporter persona doesn't fade after she gets brainwashed and she keeps it up even after she just melted her co-anchor's face off.Holly: And in sports news, Ohio State plays the Indiana Hoosiers tomorrow night. Good luck to our Buckeyes. I'm Holly Marciano, Channel 6 News. Hail Raatma!
- Bad Black Barf: Raatma's vomit is black, and in the end, Holly vomits up a similar glob of black acid that melts off her co-anchor's face.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The deranged preacher and the cult of Raatma are still active by the end of the story, and they have brainwashed Holly into one of their own.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: As Holly is teeming with indignation over being ordered to investigate the storm drain for Raatma, Jeff jokingly suggests to Holly that they both get drunk together at a bar to de-stress. Holly responds, "Fuck you."
- Chekhov's Gunman: You know that creepy preacher who was interviewed for only a few seconds in the beginning? He's the one leading the cult of Raatma.
- Deadline News: Jeff dies on air after having his face melted off in gory detail.
- Eldritch Abomination: Raatma can barely be called humanoid, with a nightmarishly elongated head, acidic vomit and an apparent influence over its devotees.
As per Chloe Okuno, it's from another universe and may not even necessarily be malicious so much as it is something that simply doesn't belong in this world and is not reacting well to its new surroundings, expressing its discomfort in a way that has horrific consequences. - Gory Discretion Shot: What Raatma's Bad Black Barf does to Jeff isn't shown in full detail due to the low light. But it's averted in the ending when Holly's co-anchor gets a face-full of it, in bright lighting.
- Mood Whiplash: Just as Holly is left to the mercy of Raatma, the segment is interrupted by an infomercial for the "Veggie Masher".
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Whatever Raatma's cult did to Holly, it turned her into one of their brainwashed followers, causing her to barely bat an eyelash at melting off her coanchor's face.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Just what did the cult of Raatma do to Holly that brainwashed her into one of their followers?
- Shout-Out: The entire segment revolves around a female reporter for Channel 6 News searching through the sewers for a humanoid rat.
- Sinister Minister: The local priest is revealed to be the leader of the cult of Raatma, worshiping the creature as a god and using its abilities to usher in a new era.
- Urban Legend: "The Rat Man."
- Wham Line: "People are already lining up to Raatma the hay rides, Apple Raatma, and of course, to see who will be crowned the festival's largest Raatma."
The Empty Wake
- And Then John Was a Zombie: A tornado apparently kills the zombified Andrew, but Hayley might become a zombie herself, or become possessed by his spirit, shambling out of the funeral home at the end of the segment.
- The Bad Guy Wins: One possible interpretation of the ending is that Andrew and his family were conspiring to give Andrew a new vessel to inhabit, and they succeeded.
- Bottle Episode: The entire short takes place in the funeral home.
- The Family That Slays Together: The implications Ronald and Tim make about Andrew's family, as well as what happens when he comes back from the dead, indicates that they were occultists who wanted to return him to life via zombification and letting his spirit possess a new host. Ronald very likely either turned a blind eye to it all or hired Hayley explicitly so she could be Andrew's vessel because they paid him extra.
- Foreshadowing: Ronald and Tim bring up Andrew's face and head during their summary of his wake. This later comes into play when it's discovered that half of Andrew's head has been lopped off, and its eyes manage to spot Hayley, allowing the rest of his reanimated corpse to find her.
- One of the first indications that something is wrong is that the casket is crooked, and nobody remembers moving or even touching it. It's not long before Hayley starts to hear knocking coming from inside.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's not entirely clear from the film if Hayley is possessed, zombified, or simply stumbling away in shock after the attack and tornado.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Why was Andrew spouting gibberish on the roof of a church before he jumped off? Why does he suddenly reanimate and attack Hayley? Nothing about him or his motives is revealed, unless you count his possible relation to Gustav. Even then, Gustav himself has none of his own history or motives revealed.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Destroying Andrew's brain clearly doesn't have an effect, for one thing, and his body parts are individually functional even when separated ala Braindead or The Return of the Living Dead.
The Subject
- Action Girl: Subject 99, after she Took a Level in Badass.
- Anachronism Stew: Unlike the other segments, no attempt is made to make the camera footage (or that of the TVs) appear period-accurate; all the footage is high-definition and has a significantly higher framerate than what cameras of the time could achieve. Given the intent to replicate a high-octane FPS video game experience, this is likely a stylistic decision, rather than an oversight.
- Arm Cannon: For most of the segment, 99 lacks half of one of her arms. Later, we learn that James was supposed to stick a modular arm cannon onto it, but was killed before doing so. Thankfully, she finds it and uses it to defend herself during the climax. It appears to have an M16 and grenade launcher grafted onto it.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Dr. Suhendra's work on Subject 98 involves lopping his hands off and replacing them with giant blades. It puts them to good use bisecting and decapitating policemen when James' contingency plans activate.
- Bittersweet Ending: While a security camera does show that Subject 99 somehow survived running out of energy and escaped the laboratory, leaving behind her unspeakable ordeal, Jono tragically dies from his injuries thanks to Subject 98, and 99 is still an incredibly mutilated cyborg with most of her body replaced with horrific cybernetics. Even if she does return to her parents, she absolutely won't be living a normal life again.
- Body Horror: All of James' test subjects. Among the menagerie are a human head with robotic spider legs, a man with a camera-mounted skull for a head and swords for arms (Subject 98), a woman with her head from the lower jaw up replaced with cameras and speakers and her hand removed so a modular arm cannon can be attached (Subject 99), and a woman who was still in the middle of robotization (while conscious) who had most of her entrails replaced with machinery and an arm and foot removed.
- Cyberpunk: The short has a lot of the trappings of the genre, such as a Mad Scientist and Unwilling Roboticization.
- Dark Is Not Evil: In spite of her nightmarish appearance and being treated with nothing but contempt by most of the SWAT team who were supposed to rescue her, Subject 99 is a Tragic Monster and a Non-Malicious Monster who is as much a victim as the other subjects of James and only fights the SWAT team out of self-defense. She even spares Jono when she runs into him and they both come to the agreement that they both want to survive and escape the laboratory.
- Dirty Cop: The SWAT team executes Dr. Suhendra despite the fact he poses no obvious threat to them, and goes on to hunt Subject 99 on the shaky justification that she deserves a Mercy Kill (despite her repeated pleas to be spared).
- Droste Image: James displays Subject 99's camera feed on a computer monitor, which repeats indefinitely.
- Electronic Speech Impediment: Subject 99's vocalizations, as well as the vocalizations of others from her perspective, are accompanied by an electronic stutter. Somewhat justified as the entire top half of her head is nothing but cybernetics.
- Frankenstein's Monster: The subjects who underwent James' Unwilling Roboticization are essentially this.
- Gorn: By far the most violent of the shorts, with graphic mutilation and bloody violence galore. The director even says he created the film in a "Berserk Bloodlust Mode."
- He Who Fights Monsters: The commander proves himself to be a Killer Cop who is just as bloodthirsty as the Mad Scientist he was ordered to arrest, taking way too much zealous joy in taking down Subject 99 while Laughing Mad (though that could be excused as him having gone insane following his battle with Subject 98, and how his team became a Dwindling Party as he was A Father to His Men), prompting Jono, the Token Good Teammate of his team, to take him down like a mad dog.
- Hero Antagonist: The SWAT team, with the exception of Jono. While they understandably execute Dr. Suhendra rather than apprehending him, they still go out of their way to try and kill Subject 99 despite the fact she isn't a threat to them. By the time she actually does becomes a threat to the SWAT Team, it's because she's trying to survive and defend herself.
- Inspector Javert: The SWAT team's commander, even after being Driven to Madness.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: The commander refers to Subject 99 as an "it" due to her Was Once a Man state.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When Subject 99 discovers, and attaches, her arm cannon.
- Mad Scientist: Dr. Suhendra has all the obvious traits - unkempt hair, crazed eyes, builds messy cyborgs out of unwilling test subjects, ranting to himself about his colleagues in the scientific community being imbeciles, etc.
- Mercy Kill: Subverted with the SWAT team in regards to their decision in killing Subject 99 (and considering how much James destroyed her body, it's hard to blame the cops for thinking this was necessary), though they treat her like another enemy instead of a victim. Played straight when Subject 99 discovers one of James' earlier subjects on an operating table, and unhooks her life support to end her suffering.
- No Name Given: The commander and the man who becomes Subject 98.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Subject 99 only ever kills in self-defense, and even attempts to save Jono, the one policeman who showed her kindness, from the much more violent Subject 98
- Not Quite Dead: When the SWAT team first finds Subject 99, they assume that she's already dead, so her grabbing one of their arms comes as a shock to them. Likewise, despite being heavily injured and her battery dying, 99 is seen shuffling out of the lab and on to parts unknown in the segment's final moments.
- Only Known by Initials: The young woman who becomes Subject 99 is known only as "S.A." through a news report.
- The Quiet One: Subject 99 rarely speaks throughout the segment, usually vocalizing through screaming and crying.
- Rage Against the Reflection: When Subject 99 sees her own reflection for the first time, she punches the mirror in rage and sorrow.
- Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Subject 99 eventually kills a rampaging Subject 98 by tearing his brain out.
- Shout-Out:
- Dr. Suhendra refers to his cyborgs as "Neo-Humans".
- Another, possibly unintentional, is that the segment follows, in first person, a woman named S.A. whose right arm is a gun.
- Spiritual Antithesis: To "Safe Haven", Timo Tjahjanto's segment from V/H/S/2. Whereas that was a Religious Horror story about a documentary crew investigating a cult, this is a Sci-Fi Horror story about a Mad Scientist turning unwilling people into horrifying cyborgs.
- Token Good Teammate: Jono, the timid officer assigned with recording James' arrest/death. He somewhat befriends Subject 99 and offers to help her escape the lab.
- Took a Level in Badass: Subject 99 at first starts off as a hapless robotized survivor trying to run away from the SWAT Team and Subject 98. She starts fighting back once she acquires an arm cannon.
- Tragic Monster: The subjects who underwent Dr. Suhendra's Unwilling Roboticization could count. Especially 99, as she finally starts fighting the SWAT Team out of self-defense after trying to stay out of their way proves difficult.
- Unwilling Roboticization: As expected for a Mad Scientist, none of James' test subjects are very happy about being chopped up and turned into half-mechanical abominations.
Terror
- Alcohol-Induced Stupidity: Shit starts to go downhill once the militia decide to get wasted and forget to execute their secret weapon.
- Asshole Victim: Considering that most of the victims are white supremacist terrorists willing to bomb a public building with a daycare center in it, it's practically a given that you won't feel a shred of remorse when they not only get horribly killed by the vampire, but also their own incompetence.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: To test their plan of attack, the militiamen inject an adorable rabbit with some of the vampire's blood. When the sun rises, the poor thing explodes.
- Chromosome Casting: This is the first segment in the franchise that does not include any women.
- Despair Event Horizon: The vampire gradually stops pleading not to be shot in the head, spending his fourth death completely silent and morose. When he finally gets free, he chooses not to escape, but to commit suicide by exposing himself to sunlight, taking Greg and any other surviving militiamen with him in the resulting explosion.
- Dirty Cop: Slater from "Holy Hell" is revealed to be affiliated with the militia, providing them weapons and ammunition while lying to his superiors about it and sharing their warped views to "take back America". He also explains to Greg that he isn't the only cop with white supremacist leanings.
- The Dog Bites Back: The vampire is just an abused victim held hostage by Greg and his goons, subjected to painful torture, executions, and experiments. Their idiocy allows him to get free and he is utterly gleeful to balance the scales.
- Driven to Suicide: After being shot in the head on a daily basis, the vampire willingly exposes himself to sunlight upon getting free, blowing up himself, his tormentor and the entire building they're in.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: What exactly were the militia thinking when they decided they could control a vampire, especially when they eventually failed to properly maintain protocol thanks to their drunken celebration?
- Foreshadowing: The militia discuss the importance of sunlight exposure during their recon mission into Detroit, before the captive in their attic is revealed to be a vampire.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: This is the first segment in the franchise where a character from the wraparound story appears outside of the wraparound.
- Humanoid Abomination: The vampire, the "metaphysical superweapon" the militia claims to have acquired, is a man who is seemingly immortal, whose blood explodes in contact with sunlight, and who turns into a toothy-mawed creature when they fail to kill him on schedule.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The vampire is a tragic victim abused and tortured by a white supremacist militia who plan to use it for a terrorist attack. Naturally they're the villains.
- Laughably Evil: The Right-Wing Militia Fanatic militia can be viewed as this for being a Stupid Evil ragtag bunch of goofy hillbilly morons.
- Miles Gloriosus: Despite being an armed militia, the First Patriots have poor trigger discipline and lack effective combat prowess.
- No Name Given: The vampire has no name given by the narrative.
- Only Sane Man: Steve, who's watching over the vampire. Subverted after he gets drunk too.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The vampire that the militia calls their "superweapon". He's a seemingly immortal man who grows a Flower Mouth that is brimming with jagged fangs if he is still animate after sundown, and his blood violently explodes when exposed to sunlight. He also doesn't seem to drink blood so much as tear off faces.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The main characters are obviously this, being a white supremacist militia.
- Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The Villain Protagonists, with deliberate shades of the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in their plot to blow up a federal building.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Bob.
- Sub-Par Supremacist: The First Patriots are a bunch of out-of-shape and woefully dumb hicks. While they are no doubt a threat, they end up being more dangerous to each other than to society as a whole.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The vampire's blood creates a large explosion when in contact with sunlight. The militia plan to capitalize on this by using it against a federal building.
- Taking You with Me: The vampire chains Greg up and then exposes itself to the sunlight, obliterating both of them.
- Too Dumb to Live: Not only do the militiamen decide to have a massive drunken party the night before their operation, failing to follow containment procedures for the vampire as a result, but more of them die as a result of their poor trigger discipline than are actually killed by the creature itself.
- Tragic Monster: The vampire is an abused victim in this scenario. After being confined to a small room filled with garlic and wooden crosses while getting gruesomely shot in the head on a daily basis, you can understand why he goes after the militiamen. If that's not enough, he tearfully begs for his life whenever he's about to be killed.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Bob, who drunkenly pressures Steve to get drunk enough to leave his post and kiss the vampire's corpse. Thanks to him, the vampire gets loose and butchers him, his Commandant, and his friends, with Steve himself exploding under the sun's rays.
- Villain Protagonist: The First Patriots Movement Militia plan on carrying out a bombing at a federal building.
- Warrior Poet: Greg, the Commandant of the group, fancies himself this. Too bad his apostles are a bunch of lowbrow hicks.
- Wham Line: One that comes later in the segment and finally tells the audience what kind of creature the militia’s been keeping captive."You're covered in vampire blood!"
- Would Hurt a Child: Like Timothy McVeigh, the militiamen are willing to set off their bombs (or exploding vampire blood) in a building with a daycare.