V/H/S/94 is a 2021 American found footage horror anthology film written by David Bruckner, and Brad Miska. The sequel to V/H/S: Viral (2014), it is the fourth installment in the V/H/S franchise and a prequel to the first three installments. Set in 1994, it comprises four found footage segments linked together by a fifth frame narrative directed by franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto, in addition to newcomers Jennifer Reeder, Ryan Prows, Chloe Okuno and Steven Kostanski. It is the first film in the franchise not to be distributed by Magnolia Pictures' Magnet Releasing label. It was released as a Shudder Original Film through the streaming service Shudder in the United States on October 6, 2021, making it to be the first film in the franchise to be released on Shudder. V/H/S/94 became the service's biggest film premiere ever, with "record-setting viewership numbers" until it was surpassed by its sequel, V/H/S/99, released on October 20, 2022.
Plot The film is presented as an anthology of four short horror films, built into a frame narrative which acts as its own fifth short horror film. Each short is linked together with the concept of found footage.
"Holy Hell" (frame narrative) — Prologue
Written and directed by Jennifer Reeder
The frame narrative focuses on a SWAT team—Slater, Oursler, Sprayberry, Spivey, Petro, and Nash—with their cameraman Gary as they raid a warehouse during what is believed to be a drug bust.
Moments before, a white-dressed woman inhaled a vapour from a substance on her hands. She has her eyes gouged out and counts down from ten as another woman passes behind. As the team find a jet behind the warehouse, a distorted voice welcomes them and asks them to "track the signal".
The team discover several rooms with televisions displaying static and spot a corpse in one of them, with his eyes gouged out and the substance dripping onto the floor. The team encounter more corpses; Slater orders to search the upper floor as one of the televisions begins to play a newscast.
"Storm Drain" Written and directed by Chloe Okuno "The Veggie Masher" commercial directed by Steven Kostanski and written by Chloe Okuno.
Channel 6 reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman Jeff are filming a story about the urban legend of the Rat Man. The duo descend into a sewer drain, where the creature supposedly lives, and find several encampments.
When a man covered in a black slime-like liquid approaches them, they attempt to flee but are captured by similar people, who take them deeper into the sewers. A minister, 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 creature dubbed "Raatma". It vomits the liquid, which the minister pours over Jeff's face, burning him to death. Holly is then brought before Raatma and screams.
After a brief commercial break, Holly's co-anchor explains that she was rescued from the drain and has returned to work at the Channel 6 station, though Jeff is still missing. When Holly gives her report, she begins inadvertently saying Raatma's name in the middle of sentences and then suddenly vomits the liquid on her co-anchor's face. The co-anchor rips off his burning flesh while Holly cheerfully finishes her report, signing off with a "Hail Raatma" as the footage ends.
"Holy Hell" — First interlude Back in the frame narrative, the team go deeper in the warehouse and come across a church-like room, with a television at the front and mannequins in the seats. The television's screen suddenly begins to play footage from a funeral home.
"The Empty Wake" Written and directed by Simon Barrett
Funeral home worker Hailey is assigned to host a wake for the recently deceased Andrew Edwards, whose family has requested that the service be recorded during the night. Hailey's boss Ronald and another worker, Tim, leave the building as a thunderstorm commences outside and the power flickers.
Hailey hears strange noises from Andrew's coffin and calls Tim to say that Andrew may still be alive. Tim quells her worries and explains that the body is most likely releasing gases that are causing the noises. A man named Gustav arrives to the funeral home, during which Hailey allows him to pay his respects; he thanks her for the opportunity and leaves. Hailey then calls her friend Sharon and asks her to check in the local obituaries for Andrew's name.
Sharon reveals to Hailey that Andrew had died by suicide, having leapt from a church's roof while shouting gibberish. The power goes out and the coffin suddenly jerks in Hailey's direction. She attempts to flee, but discovers the doors are chained shut. When Hailey returns, she finds the coffin tipped over and empty. Andrew's corpse attacks her, but he cannot see her because the top of his head is missing. Hailey hides behind the coffin and finds the top of Andrew's head, whose eyes lock onto her.
While Andrew finds and attacks Hailey, the tornado strikes the funeral home, killing them both. When it departs, a possessed Hailey rises and crawls out the window as the footage ends.
"Holy Hell" — Second interlude The team discover body parts strewn across the floor and upside-down crosses hanging from the ceiling. They plan to leave the warehouse until the television's screen begins to play footage from a laboratory.
"The Subject" Written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto
An unnamed man wakes up to find his body has been replaced with robotic spider-like legs. He falls from his restraints and catches fire, which is soon extinguished by deranged scientist James Suhendra. He carries out a lobotomy on a woman with the initials "S.A." and sedates a man—dubbed as "Subject 98"—after he wakes up early.
Subject 98 is equipped with blades instead of hands, and S.A. becomes a cyborg that only responds to speech. From S.A.'s point-of-view, James celebrates her success as a report states that a rash of disappearances are driving wedges between the police and the populace, with James as the principal suspect. S.A. wakes up during the procedure and attempts to undo her restraints, but James repeatedly beats her before a team of soldiers—accompanied by their cameraman Jono—arrive to arrest him.
James is shot dead and the soldiers search his laboratory for survivors. They find 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 blackout occurs and Jono witnesses S.A. leave, but does not say anything. When a soldier shoots a door lock, an explosion triggers; James' contingency plan begins as Subject 98 awakens and slaughters most of the soldiers.
Jono and the team's commander survive after the latter hurls a grenade at Subject 98. Meanwhile, S.A. falls through a hole into a room, where she finds blueprints for her parts and sees herself in a mirror for the first time. She fights her way through the laboratory and discovers Jono hidden behind a door. S.A. spares him after he begs for his life. Jono promises to help her out. When the commander attacks S.A., Jono shoots him dead before both are attacked by Subject 98.
S.A. uses the last of her strength to tear out Subject 98's brain; she collapses next to Jono and her battery dies. Sometime later, a security camera shows S.A. standing up on her own accord and escaping the lab as the footage ends.
"Holy Hell" — Third interlude It is revealed that Nash and Petro have killed Gary and kidnapped Spivey. When Slater pages his teammates over his radio, Petro states that he should try not to "lose his head"; Slater collapses and enters in a trance in front of the television's screen, which begins to play footage from an enclosure.
"Terror" Written and directed by Ryan Prows A white supremacist group—Greg, Bob, Chuck, Terry, Steve, Tom, Wayne, Reed, and Jimmy—plot to blow up a government building to "take back America". They live in a well-secured compound where a man is kept prisoner. He pleads for his life, and Greg shoots him at range, revealing that the prisoner is a vampire. The group then drive past the building which they plan to blow up.
Slater—from the "Holy Hell" frame narrative—arrives to supply them with guns and ammunition. It is revealed that Greg repeatedly shoots the vampire and siphons his blood as he resurrects each time. The group inject his blood into a rabbit, which later explodes when is exposed to sunlight. They plan to use the blood as a bomb and, later that night, drink heavily and party until an emergency bell alerts them the next morning; Greg berates Jimmy, who was supposed to be on duty guarding the compound.
Jimmy runs towards Terry's corpse behind a truck while the group hear a screech inside the compound and Reed's severed head is thrown out from within. Wayne fires a machine gun on the compound, accidentally killing Chuck in the process. The others yell at him to stop, but his frenzy continues so Tom is forced to shoot him dead. When Steve stumbles out of the compound, covered in the vampire's blood, the group warns him to stop, but he is exposed to sunlight and explodes.
The remaining members vow to kill the vampire and enter the compound, where they learn the vampire is hiding in the attic. He tears Tom's face off and Greg shoots wildly at him. The vampire then kills Jimmy and Bob, and opens the window to let in sunlight. It causes him to explode and the entire compound to be destroyed—which also kills Greg—as the footage ends.
"Holy Hell" — Epilogue Slater is tied to a chair by Petro and Nash, with Ousler, Sprayberry, and Spivey dead and their eyes gouged out. Nash rebukes Slater for supplying the supremacist group with guns and explains that she and Petro are members of the cult that has been operating out of the warehouse, where they create and distribute VHS tapes depicting disturbing and violent acts.
Nash reveals that Slater will be the final kill for their newest tape and bashes his head repeatedly with the camcorder. After pulling it out, Petro shows Slater's heavily disfigured head; they believe it will be their best tape yet but wonder what to call it.
Cast "Holy Hell" Kimmy Choi as Petro Nicolette Pearse as Nash Thomas Mitchell as Sprayberry Dru Viergever as Slater Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll as Spivey Dax Ravina as Oursler Kevin P. Gabel as Cameraman Gary William Jordan as Tom Tucker
"Storm Drain" Anna Hopkins as Holly Marciano Christian Potenza as Cameraman Jeff Brian Paul as Pastor Tim Campbell as TV Anchor Mark Gina Philips as Camille Hume Baugh as Camo Guy Sean Sullivan as Hippie Thiago Dos Santos as Raatma Kyle Durack as Storm Dweller Demetri Kellesis as Storm Dweller Sean Dolan as Skateboarder Sophia Machula as Skateboarder Anthony Perpuse as Skateboarder
"The Veggie Masher" Conor Sweeney as Himself
"The Empty Wake" Kyal Legend as Hayley Devin Chin-Cheong as Andrew Edwards Daniel Matmor as Gustav Adam Kenneth Wilson as Ronald David Reale as Tim
"The Subject" Shania Sree Maharani as S.A. Shahabi Sakri as Male Subject Daniel Ekaputra as Male Subject Alpha Budi Ros as The Creator / James Suhendra Donny Alamsyah as Capt. Hassan Bio One as Jono Vincent Martin as Ali Novi Rahmat as Jaka Sekar Dewantari as Failed Subject Andhika Martsanda as Spider Subject Andini Effendi as Announcer
"Terror" Christian Lloyd as Greg Thomas Mitchell Barnet as Cameraman Bob Cameron Kneteman as Chuck Steven McCarthy as Jimmy Brendan McMurthey-Howlett as Prisoner Slavic Rogozine as Steve Daniel Williston as Wayne Dru Viergever as Slater
Production Development