V/H/S/94

The film originates from a screenplay written by David Bruckner, and Brad Miska, with segments directed by franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto, in addition to newcomers Jennifer Reeder, Ryan Prows and Chloe Okuno. The overarching plot follows a police SWAT team who stumbles upon a sinister cult compound and its collection of VHS tapes.

Following the series’ cult origins around film festivals, V/H/S/94 had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 26, 2021, and was also screened at Beyond Fest on October 4, 2021. The film was released as a Shudder Original Film via horror film streaming service Shudder on October 6, 2021. Later that month, Shudder announced that V/H/S/94 had become the platform’s biggest movie premiere ever, with “record-setting viewership numbers” until 2022, when it was surpassed by its sequel, V/H/S/99.

Holy Hell (Prologue)

A woman dressed in white clothing inhales a gaseous vapour being emitted by a gelatinous, white substance on her hands. Later, the same woman, with her eyes gouged out, counts down from ten in a staticky voice as another woman passes behind her. A SWAT team – consisting of Slater, Oursler, Sprayberry, Spivey, Petro and Nash, and their cameraman Gary – raid a warehouse during what is believed to be a drug bust.

They find a private jet behind the warehouse. A distorted female voice emanates from the speakers: “All are welcome. All are watching. Finally, followers, tonight is the night you’ve been waiting for. Track my signal. The signal is the stimulant. The signal is the sedative. The signal is salvation.” As the officers charge through the tight corridors, they discover multiple prison cell-like rooms with television sets displaying static.

They spot a man sitting in one of the rooms, but as the officers order him to not move, they realize he is dead, with his eyes gouged out and the viscous white substance – the drug the SWAT team is after – dripping onto the floor.

Advancing through the warehouse in search of suspects, the team enters the room seen in the VHS tape and encounter more dead cultists. Slater orders to search the upper floor with Blue team while the remaining officers keep going as one of the televisions begins to play a newscast.

Storm Drain

“The Veggie Masher” commercial directed and edited by Steven Kostanski, produced by Astron-6 Video

In Westerville, Ohio, Channel 6 News reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman Jeff are filming a story about the Rat Man, a cryptid of local legend who has supposedly been living in the town’s storm drains. After interviewing several of the town’s citizens who have reportedly witnessed the creature to gain information, the duo descend into a storm drain, where they find several homeless encampments.

While filming, they are approached by a man covered in black slime. Holly tries to interview him, but when he begins to spit up black liquid and murmurs “Raatma,” they attempt to flee. Before they can make their escape, they are captured by other residents of the sewers.

They are taken deeper into the sewers by the dwellers. The minister of the local church, who Holly had interviewed earlier, appears and announces that a new order will soon begin. He then summons the Rat Man, which is revealed to be a grotesque half-human/half-rat creature dubbed “Raatma” that he and the other sewer dwellers worship as a god.

Raatma proceeds to vomit black liquid, which the minister pours over Jeff’s face, the viscous substance killing him as it melts the flesh from his head. Holly is then brought before Raatma, the creature growling in approval as she screams.

After a brief infomercial for “The Veggie Masher” plays, the film returns to the newscast, where Holly’s co-anchor explains that she was rescued from the storm drain and has returned to work at the Channel 6 News station, though Jeff is still missing. Holly gives her next report, unwittingly substituting random words with “Raatma”, confusing her co-anchor.

She suddenly vomits the black liquid on his face, melting it off as he dies screaming on air. As the newsroom erupts in panic, Holly, revealed to have been successfully converted/brain-washed by the sewer cult, cheerfully finishes her report, signing off with “Hail Raatma.”

Holy Hell (Interlude 1)

Back in the framing story, the officers go deeper into the building and come across a room set up to look like a church, with a giant screen at the front and severed mannequins in the seats. The giant screen begins to play video footage from a funeral home.

The Empty Wake

At Jensen Funeral Home, a young woman named Hailey is assigned to host a wake for a man named Andrew Edwards, whose family has requested that the service be video recorded during the whole night. Hailey’s boss Ronald and another assistant, Tim, leave the building for the night, leaving Hailey to pass the time reading. A strong thunderstorm begins outside, causing the power to flicker. Hailey then calls her friend Sharon, asking for her to check the local obituaries for Andrew’s name.

When she hears strange noises from the casket, which has moved on the bier, Hailey calls Tim and says that she thinks Andrew may still be alive. Tim quells her worries by explaining that the body is most likely releasing gases that are causing the noises. As the storm worsens, the building begins to occasionally lose power.

A strange man who identifies himself as Gustav and claims to be a relative of Andrew arrives to the wake, during which Hailey allows him to pay his respects. After uttering an apparent incantation in Hungarian, Gustav thanks Hailey for the opportunity and abruptly leaves.

Sometime later, Sharon reveals to Hailey that Andrew had committed suicide by leaping from the roof of a church while he was shouting gibberish. The power cuts out again, plunging the building into darkness as the noises resume from the casket. At one point, the casket suddenly and noticeably jerks in her direction, terrifying her.

Trying to leave, Hailey discovers the front doors are chained shut. Returning to the viewing room, she finds the casket tipped over, open, and empty. She is attacked by Andrew’s reanimated corpse, but because the top of its head is missing, it cannot see her. Hiding behind the casket, she finds the top of Andrew’s head.

Hailey is able to temporarily distract Andrew by playing viewing room music via remote control, but Andrew’s functional eyes lock onto her, allowing the rest of his corpse to find Hailey. As it attacks, the storm, which has escalated into a tornado, strikes the funeral home as the camera cuts out. After it passes, Hailey, having been possessed by Andrew’s spirit, rises and crawls through the window and into the surrounding area.

Holy Hell (Interlude 2)

Back in the framing story, the officers discover body parts strewn across the floor, mannequins in the toilet stalls, and upside-down crosses hanging from the ceiling of various rooms. Panicked, they plan to exit the building. As an unknown voice states, “Forever starts right now”, a television begins to play footage from a bizarre laboratory.

The Subject

Somewhere in Indonesia, a man wakes up to find his body gone and replaced by mechanical spider legs. He falls from his restraints and catches fire, which is soon extinguished by Dr. James Suhendra, a deranged scientist who desires to create a successful mechanical-human hybrid, using kidnapped humans as guinea pigs. He carries out a lobotomy on a young woman with the initials S.A. (referred to as ‘Subject 99’) using a circular saw, and sedates a restrained young man (referred to as ‘Subject 98’) after he wakes up early.

Both experiments are successful; Subject 98 becomes a large robot with spring-powered blades for arms, and S.A. becomes a functioning cyborg that responds to speech. The rest of the tape is mostly presented from her point of view. James celebrates S.A.’s success as a news report states that a rash of recent disappearances are driving wedges between the police and the public. James is suspected of kidnapping his patients, and S.A.’s old self is shown onscreen; James remarks on how she still recognizes her old appearance.

James attempts to wipe S.A.’s memories; S.A. wakes up during the procedure and hits James, before attempting to undo her restraints. James beats S.A. repeatedly with a metal tray, and her battery life drops before he is interrupted by a knock at the door; a team of heavily armored police officers have arrived to arrest James. James throws a blanket over S.A. as the officers break in as the tape cuts to the feed of Jono, the timid officer assigned with recording the raid.

After the commander confirms that James is their suspect, the police shoot him dead, and begin hunting the lab for survivors. They discover S.A., and argue over whether she should be killed or kept alive as she is not classified as human anymore, despite technically being a survivor. A sudden blackout occurs in the lab, and Jono witnesses S.A. escape, but does not say anything.

Another officer attempts to shoot the door lock and free the group, but triggers an explosion. As the group come to, an alarm begins to sound and James’s contingency plan begins. Over a speaker, James states that his creation is his alone, and that those who try to take it from him shall die. Subject 98 awakens and slaughters most of the soldiers; Jono and the commander survive after the commander hurls a grenade at 98. S.A. comes to and flees through the building, being shot at by the surviving officers and chased by 98.

She locks herself in a small office room and finds blueprints for her cyborg body and cannon arm, along with the upper half of her head and face preserved in a jar of formaldehyde. She approaches a mirror, and sees her new form for the first time; enraged, she punches the mirror and breaks it.

After leaving the room and coming across more of James’s failed experiments, S.A. finds and equips the cannon arm and fights her way through the building, slaughtering any soldiers she comes across in self-defense. She discovers Jono behind a door, and spares him after he begs for his life and promises to help her out of the lab.

Suddenly, the commander appears and shoots S.A. before beating her; Jono grabs a gun and shoots the commander dead before being attacked by Subject 98. With her battery critically low, S.A. uses the last of her strength to tear out 98’s brain, killing it. She collapses next to a heavily injured Jono, and her battery finally dies. The tape cuts to a security camera, which shows S.A. standing up on her own accord, escaping from the lab.

Holy Hell (Interlude 3)

Back in the framing story, it is shown that Nash and Petro have killed Gary & kidnapped Spivey. As the rest of the team frantically search for him, Nash states “Forever starts right now”. In front of a wall of TV screens, Slater pages his missing teammates over his radio, and Petro states that he should try not to lose his head. Slater suddenly collapses and enters a trance in front of one of the screens, which proceeds to display footage of a snowy, fortified militia enclosure.

Terror

The First Patriots Movement Militia are a white supremacist extremist group that are currently plotting to blow up a local government building in a bid to “take back America”. It is shown that they live in a well-secured compound in a deserted area somewhere in Detroit, Michigan. The compound has a room for security cameras, as well as a heavily protected small room covered in wooden crosses. In the latter room, a man is chained up and kept prisoner.

Bob, the group’s cameraman, Greg, the group leader, and Chuck, a group member, enter the room. The man pleads for his life, and Greg shoots him at point-blank range. The film cuts to one of the group’s propaganda videos, where Greg explains that the group intends to purge evil from America.

Members of the group set out in a car and drive past the building which they plan to blow up, surveying the site for security cameras and possible entry points. Back at the compound, Slater from the framing segment arrives to supply guns and ammunition to the group, asking if they have tested the “creature”.

It is shown that the group regularly shoot the man, who is revealed to be a vampire, and siphon his blood, which becomes explosive when exposed to sunlight, planning to use said blood instead of a bomb. Wanting to test if their plan works, they inject a rabbit with some of the vampire’s blood and cage it; when the sun rises, the rabbit explodes.

In celebration, the group drink heavily and party. Bob enters the compound and visits Steve, who is sitting in the security camera room. The pair visit the vampire’s corpse, and Bob goads Steve into kissing it; the head falls forward and showers Steve in blood as Bob laughs.

The next morning, an emergency bell rings and alerts the members of the group. Greg berates Jimmy, who was supposed to be on duty guarding the compound. Jimmy runs towards a body behind the truck, discovering it to be Terry, his neck having been badly gored. Suddenly, crashes come from inside the compound, and the group realizes they are missing Steve.

Greg calls for Steve, just as a severed head is thrown out of the compound entrance as roars sound from inside. A member begins firing a truck-mounted machinegun on the compound, losing control due to the sway and killing some of the group in the process, and is shot in the head by Tom when he is unable to stop. Steve then stumbles out of the compound covered in the vampire’s blood, promptly exploding once he steps into the daylight.

The remaining members of the group – Greg, Tom, Bob and Jimmy – vow to kill the vampire. They enter the compound and discover the creature hiding in the attic; it tears Tom’s face off and Greg shoots wildly at it. In the attic, the vampire kills Jimmy by slamming his head on the floor repeatedly, and Bob shoots at it, missing and shooting Greg in the leg.

Bob is attacked by the vampire, dying after his face is bitten off. Greg, repeating the phrase “Christ is king” is dragged by the vampire into the cage. It then opens the attic window and lets in sunlight, causing the vampire to explode and the compound to be destroyed.

Holy Hell (Epilogue)

The majority of the SWAT team are now dead, their eyes having been gouged out. Slater is tied to a chair by Petro and Nash, who rebuke him for supplying the militia in the previous video with guns. The women explain that they are members of the snuff/fetish film cult that has been operating out of the warehouse, where they create and distribute videotapes depicting animal cruelty, cannibalism and other shocking acts of violence.

Slater is told that he will be their final kill for this video, whereupon Petro beats him to death with a video camera. As the film ends, Petro and Nash believe this will be their best tape yet, with the former wondering what to call it.