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Dig deeper into the horror of “V/H/S 99” thanks to the special features included on the home release.

By justin waldman on May 23, 2023 • ( 0 )

I generally try to keep politics and state of affairs out of my reviews because the review should focus on the sole product itself and not how the industry around it is changing and effecting the content or the distribution of content itself. Now, it’s not news that sometimes streaming services remove content from their lineup, especially when it’s not their own content as licensing is a whole other beast within itself. However, a streaming service cannibalizing its own original content, most of which is not even old content, is, quite frankly, unheard of. With that being said, get anything you care about and want to watch at your own leisure on physical media as soon as you can. However, it should be stated that Shudder is generally known to keep their content on the platform, but who knows what can happen within time. With that being said, we can now dive into their newest home release in conjunction with RLJE films, the critically acclaimed horror anthology series V/H/S/99!

A scene from V/H/S/ 99. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder.

The franchise started off with just being a found footage anthology and evolved into a time capsule with the last two entries and the up and coming third being V/H/S 85. however, doing two installments, both centred in the ‘90s, left little to be desired with V/H/S/99, but it’s certainly not without its brilliance. In the opening segment of Shredding and the middle segment of Ozzy’s Dungeon, filmmakers Maggie Levin (Heel) and Flying Lotus (Kuso) really play on the peak of the late ‘90s with a spoof of MTV and Double Dare on their insane found tapes of hellish nightmare fuel. These segments truly capture the essence of the late ‘90s and are absolutely mind-boggling in their execution and performance.

A scene from V/H/S/ 99. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder.

Equally gross and disturbing, these segments are the bread and butter of V/H/S/ 99 while The Gawkers, Suicide Bid, and To Hell and Back, directed by Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls), Johannes Roberts (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), and husband-and-wife filmmaking team Joseph and Vanessa Winter (Deadstream), are still entertaining and horrifying in a sense but lack that exceptional punch of disturbing violence and gut-wrenching can’t-keep-your-eyes-open-but-cannot-look-away vibe to them. Through and through, V/H/S/ 99 certainly is another bone-chilling installment in the found footage franchise, but the lesser of the two ‘90s installments; though not many things can compete with the sheer madness of Storm Drain or The Subject, but if those are too maddening and stomach-churning for you, than Shredding and Ozzy’s Dungeon are certainly more tame while still being excellently disturbing.

A scene from V/H/S/ 99. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder.

Shudder and RLJE have gifted audiences with three (!!!) versions of V/H/S/99 for home release that are DVD, Blu-ray, and DVD/Blu-ray combo steelbook. The steelbook, with the same artwork on the front, just feels vintage and gives it that extra addition to the late ‘90s aesthetic, if it was made to be one of those large metalpaks (not a typo they were spelt that way haha) that the first steelbooks came out in, it would’ve completed that near-nostalgic look to it. However, aside from the gorgeous artwork, since it is a streaming-exclusive title, the only way to get the plethora of special features on this installment is by purchasing one of the three editions.

A scene from V/H/S/ 99. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films & Shudder.

For all horror heads and fans of the V/H/S franchise, this is simply a must-own for the collection and surely will not disappoint in terms of movie quality. The re-watchability of the two aforementioned segments and even Gawkers, Suicide Bid, and To Hell and Back all have their continued value and watchability to them, allowing each segment to breath and be analyzed on its own for merit and how it holds up to that late ‘90s culture.

V/H/S/99 Special Features: