All Hail Raatma, Terror Is The Subject In 'V/H/S/94' (Review)
The ‘V/H/S’ franchise has came out with six contrasting installments over the last fourteen years. One of the most well received by critics and audiences alike was the fourth installment, ‘V/H/S/94.’ Originating from the screenplay written by Brad Miska and David Bruckner, the film incorporates five different segments directed by Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows and franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto. Having seen some of the other films in the franchise, it’s safe to say that we can see why V/H/S/94 was enjoyed by so many.
“Holy Hell” written and directed by Jennifer Reeder is the first segment we are presented with, it also narrates throughout the film, and finally gives us our conclusion at the end. In an apparent drug raid, a SWAT team enters an abandoned warehouse and stumbles upon what they believe to be a ritualistic cult compound. As they survey the building, they find multiple dead cultists with their eyes gouged out and a peculiar white substance surrounding them.
With that being said, this segment seemed to be the most complex to follow but also had a great payoff. We could imagine it’s difficult going back and forth with a storyline in a film when you also have four others going on at once, but the simplicity in Holy Hell made it easy to understand once the ball got rolling.
One of the most well-received segments directed by Chloe Okuno titled “Storm Drain” follows Channel 6 News reporter Holly Marciano (Anna Hopkins) and her cameraman Jeff (Christian Potenza) on their search for the town’s local legend “Ratman” who supposedly lurks in the storm drain system. As they enter the darkness of the sewage-filled trenches, they come across a makeshift bed and other random items underneath the blanket. They decide to explore further and find a tent set up, which they believe to be where the Ratman resides.
Jeff is startled by something he sees in the tent when he pans the camera over, and he falls to the ground. Once he collects himself, he picks up the camera and looks over to what seems to be a man covered in a thick black substance. Holly approaches him and asks him a few questions but all he responds with is “Ratmaa.” Without giving away too much, the two are met with a nightmare fuel-inducing creature called Ratmaa which infects or “possesses” unsuspecting individuals.
Keith Thompson and Patrick Magee knocked it out of the part with their creation and design of Ratmaa, the special FX used in this segment was absolutely outstanding. The idea that Chloe Okuno had for Storm Drain was brought to life so well and for a newcomer to the V/H/S franchise, we think she killed it.
Returning franchisee director Simon Barrett presents us with our next segment titled “Empty Wake.” It’s a stormy, ominous night at Jensen Funeral Home. Bells chime in the distance as foreboding music plays in the background. Hayley (Kyal Legend) is instructed by her funeral director, Tim, to do something she has never done before. Tim tells Hayley that it was requested by the deceased’s family to record the whole wake from start to finish. Hayley reluctantly agrees, and Tim leaves for her to do her work.
A couple of hours pass by it seems and oddly no one has shown up for who we now know as “Andrew.” Hayley keeps hearing a knocking coming from the coffin and calls Tim to tell her that she believes Andrew is not dead; he absolutely reassures her that there is “no way” he could be alive. Hayley calls one of her friends to see if she can look up the reasoning behind Andrew’s death.
As more time passes, things start to get stranger when one single person arrives in the wake who just introduces himself as Gustav. After paying his respects, he mutters a combination of words in Hungarian. After the mysterious man leaves, unexplainable things start to happen. The knocking coming from the coffin intensifies and Hayley is frightened. The power flickers and a loud crash can be heard. In the darkness-filled room, Hayley notices the coffin has been opened and the corpse is missing. She notices in the distance a figure with its head sliced in half, walking around in a zombie-like trance. For now, I’ll leave you with that.
Simon Barrett has a way of bringing some of our simplest fears to life. Most of us have sadly been to a funeral before, the eerie feeling that you get from being there can sometimes be so overwhelming. At least at one point or another, we have thought to ourselves “Are you sure they’re dead?” The tone throughout this whole segment gave us a sense of impending doom that we really enjoyed in the sense of “What could happen next?” Again, the Special FX by Chris Bridges on Andrew’s corpse is grotesque, to say the least, and gives us a different look at how we usually interpret a “zombie.”
Where do I even begin with this segment? Indonesian film director Timo Tjahjanto’s creativity absolutely shined through with this one. As another returning director to the ‘V/H/S’ franchise, he definitely didn’t hold back. Dr. James Suhendra is a deranged scientist who is obsessed with creating a mechanical-human hybrid. He kidnaps unsuspecting patients and uses them as his guinea pigs to work on.
After many failed attempts, he successfully creates two human/robotic-like creatures, and one of them who we know as S.A. is capable of seeing and hearing what is going on around her. Suddenly, a SWAT team breaks in and after confirming that it is indeed Dr. James Suhendra, they gun him down and go off in search of any survivors.
After trying to bypass a locked door, one of the members of the SWAT team shoots at the lock and ultimately blows up the room as the other side of the door is laced with explosives, killing and maiming several men. The survivors come in contact with one of Dr. Suhendra’s creations which is now an enormous humanoid with two gigantic knives in place of his hands and a mechanically advanced head and body. As expected, it absolutely annihilates everyone in its path.
One of the SWAT members notices another creation under a sheet and realizes that it’s S.A. who we also come to find out was the missing girl they were in search of. She has now been lobotomized and half of her head has been replaced with a mechanical device that allows her to see and hear, and one of her arms has been replaced with a cannon of sorts.
We don’t want to spoil too much, because this segment was absolutely all over the place in the best way and we want you to watch it for yourself. Irrational fears are one of the most terrifying things because sometimes you don’t know why you find them so unsettling. It’s safe to say now that this segment left us so uncomfortable and sick to our stomachs that we now have an irrational fear of being tortured and turned into a mechanical humanoid. Another aspect of “The Subject” that made this so enjoyable was that you felt some sort of compassion for these “creatures” which you normally don’t get in the V/H/S franchise, let alone any horror film.
Technically, our last segment titled “Terror,” written and directed by Ryan Prows, follows The First Patriots Movement Militia, a white supremacist extremist group that is planning on blowing up a local government building in an effort to “Take America back.” The militia members reside somewhere in a desolate compound where they plan their overtake. The segment takes a turn and Greg, the militia leader, and several other men are in what seems to be a shack with another man begging for his life. Greg shoots him at point-blank range and the film cuts to a propaganda video.
This exact scene can be seen numerous times but it gets a little different in each sequence. We come to find out that the man they have been “killing” repeatedly is a vampire and the militia believes that his blood is combustible when exposed to sunlight and that’s how they plan to implode the government building. They first test this theory by injecting a rabbit with the blood and placing it in a cage in the middle of a snowy field, to their satisfaction, when the sun rises, the rabbit explodes and injures several of the militia squadron.
Out of all the segments, this one seemed the most plausible which made it even more frightening. With the state that America is in right now, something like this could actually happen, minus the whole vampire part of course. The way that this was shot also gave off strong 90’s vibes which is something I always look forward to from the V/H/S franchise, that reminiscent feeling of a time that has once been forgotten.
Collectively, ‘V/H/S/94’, similar to the other films in the franchise, did what it was supposed to do. A found footage horror film that has something for just about everyone. One thing we noticed in this installment that differed from the others was that the multiple segments didn’t really have that connection we were longing for.
What we can say though is that ‘94 had some of the most unsettling and creepy segments that we have seen thus far. Specifically speaking, “The Subject” and “Empty Wake.” Two very differing storylines that are sure to give you quite the fright. You can watch ‘V/H/S/94’ streaming on Shudder and it is also available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
