'V/H/S/99' Review: Nobody's Nice in This Horror Rewind

Odds are not good for "V/H/S" - that is- say it's the even-numbered entries in this horror omnibus franchise that have been by far the best to date. As No. 5, "V/H/S/99" sadly maintains this pattern, offering an uninspired extension of the series that had rebounded from a seven-year lull with "V/H/S/94" from l last fall.

This installment was generally uneven, but the top segments were terrific. Here, nothing stands out: the best episodes are just good enough, and the worst just boring. Nonetheless, this brand has proven itself to viewers for the Shudder genre streaming platform, where it is expected to do well when it launches in various territories on October 20. Set in 1999 – the end of the titular format's commercial reign, as DVDs were introduced two years prior – the film is unlikely to be the last in the series.

If this "V/H/S" has a binding theme, it looks like it's acts of intimidation. All but the last story involve cruel pranks usually perpetrated by callous youths who end up facing extreme reward for acts they dutifully videotaped.

Maggie Levin's "Shredding" kicks off with RACK, a pop punk band Blink-182 made up of bratty skateboarders and ersatz rebels filming their antics for theoretical viewers online. Their latest move is to enter the ruins of an underground art collective/performance space. It closed after being ravaged by a "freak fire" three years earlier that claimed the lives of fellow punk band Bitch Cat.

Others ridicule gentle drummer Ankur's (Keanush Tafresi) fears of desecrating a de facto grave, but they don't laugh when pissed off dead rockers take revenge. Levin has music video roots and effectively recreates their late '90s aesthetic. Like most shotgun marriages of horror cinema and rock, however, this one ends up being silly rather than scary.

Suicide Bid", by veteran Johannes Roberts (from the recent "Resident Evil" and the sequels to "The Strangers"). Needy freshman Lily (Ally Ioannides) is inexplicably desperate to be accepted into the worst "mean girl" sorority on campus. She submits herself to the "test" of being buried alive in a coffin, which would be bad enough without the addition of a spooky local legend.This tale holds few surprises, but it's effective enough to be ranked among the best in its class here.

Fans of producer-DJ-rapper Flying Lotus (born Steven Ellison) and his feature debut in 2017 “Kuso” (who caught the eye at Sundance for his audience walkouts) can hand that award instead to his segment. Anyone else will likely have the opposite reaction. “Ozzy’s Dungeon” is the name of a Nickelodeon-style game show where kids race through a gooey, slimy, and not too hygienic "obstacle course" in order to get their wish granted.

After contestant Donna (Amelia Ann) is permanently injured on camera, her family (led by Sonya Eddy's mom) kidnaps the smarmy host (Steven Ogg) and puts him through a more sadistic "contest." Ellison's sensibility is on full display, with a lot of emphasis on bodily fluids amid an overall rather noxious mix of cartoonishness and scatological grotesqueness. As in "Kuso", its soundtrack offers an invention of a genre considerably easier to take.

We're back to skateboarders trying to do like "Jackass" in Tyler MacIntyre's "The Gawkers" . in which a quartet of rude suburban teens take a break from filming themselves to spy on the new neighbor too hot to be true (Emily Sweet). Alas, she has a secret that will prove their great misfortune to uncover. This figure doesn't lack energy, but offers nothing memorable in terms of concept or incident.

The most ambitious segment is probably the last, "To Hell and Back" by Vanessa & Joseph Winter , who made his directorial debut in a double feature earlier this year with the above-average horror flick “Deadstream.” Taking a similar comedic slant, this has quarrelsome besties Nate (Archelaus Crisanto) and Troy (co-director Joseph) hired to film some neighbors' occult rite on New Year's Eve 2000. Unfortunately, that's a bit too much. succeeded, sucking them into "another realm" that looks a lot like a small circle of...