V/H/S/Beyond, 2024.

Directed by Jay Cheel, Jordan Downey, Christian Long and Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pal, Kate Siegel.
Starring Trevor Dow, Jolene Anderson, Namrata Sheth, Skip Howland, Libby Letlow, Alanah Pearce.

SYNOPSIS:

Six tales directed and created by different filmmakers make up a sci-fi horror-inspired collection of short films.

The V/H/S/ series has been going for a heck of a long time (since 2012, in fact) and has covered seven films and two spin-off releases as well as a Snapchat-based miniseries of shorts. This latest release from the hardy portmanteau series of chillers has a space horror inspiration. That is, there’s a kind of sci-fi monster sheen to the chaotic goings on.

Ever since the first release, the V/H/S/ team have done a good job in sourcing talent to write and direct the various chapters in the stories, which often have a found footage style about them – hence the V/H/S/ tapes that give the series its title. It is also telling of a love of retro horror that has been in full force for even longer that this series.

As with all the V/H/S/ releases, and portmanteau film in general, this release is a mixed collection. The framing story Abduction/Adduction is presented as a documentary. It also purports to let the audience in on the tricks and effects scammers use. Unfortunately the mocumentary gets it almost too right, and we are left in not part curly exciting cable TV ‘the truth about aliens’ territory.

Next up is ‘Stork’ that plays around with a video-game first person shooter style to some effect, It grates after a while, and it could have been half the length. Perhaps chopped in half, with the admittedly entertaining chainsaw section. The monster is quite a sight too, it’s true, a freaky bird/ant-eater thing. But really, this is just carnage and effects.

Next is the best of the bunch to my mind. Virat Pal’s Dream Girl takes us to Mumbai, where a Bollywood leading lady is rumoured to be a witch. A journalist gets more than he bargained for when trying to uncover the truth. The entertaining song and dance sequences effectively parody Indian film’s hugely popular musical segments, while the catchy lyrics offer clues to the star’s true nature.

Next on the roll call after another interlude – that details the importance of Whitley Streiber’s book Communion, turned into a super-weird and brilliant late 1980s film starring Christopher Walken – is Live and Let Dive. Basically its a sky dive where the divers are intercepted by a UFO. Those that manage to land have to try and stay alive again in the face of gribbly aliens rampaging. It sounds more fun than it is.

Next is another good one, the excellent Misery tinged Fur Babies. Libby Letlow channels Kathy Bates in a bleakly funny effort directed by the Long brothers. Two animal rights protestors go undercover to try and discover the truth about Letlow’s business of ‘Doggy Dreamhouse’, which offers grotesque taxidermy which goes from grim to worse.

The last film follows a UFO enthusiast looking for aliens in the Mojave desert played by Alanah Pierce, bringing frazzled belief to the performance. Unfortunately, the story takes ages to get going and when it does it just fizzles out a bit.

Overall, then it’s a familiar picture from V/H/S/. Fans of different styles will have their favourites. Overall, though, it’s an above-average collection in my view and tries out a few new things in the process.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert W Monk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Christopher Ciccone, an artist and interior decorator who worked closely with his older sister, Madonna, during her rise to global superstardom in the ’80s and ’90s, died Friday. He was 63. The cause of death was cancer.

According to a statement from his family, Ciccone died peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones, including his husband, British actor Ray Thacker.

On Instagram Sunday, Madonna paid tribute to her brother with a post that celebrated their close bond and acknowledged the sometimes turbulent nature of their relationship.

“He was the closest human to me for so long,” wrote the pop star. “It’s hard to describe our bond. But it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society was going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo. We took each other’s hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood.”

Ciccone was the fifth child and third son born to Silvio and Madonna Ciccone and was raised in Rochester, Mich., where both his personal and creative identities bloomed to reveal an expansively artistic soul,” according to his family.

After studying dance in college, he moved in 1982 to New York where Madonna, two years his senior, was already making a name for herself in the downtown art and music scene. He was a backup dancer in the video for her single, “Lucky Star,” and played an important role behind the scenes on her blockbuster tours.

Ciccone started as a dresser, helping Madonna make quick costume changes between numbers, but he worked his way up to serving as art director of the provocative Blonde Ambition tour in 1990, chronicled in the documentary “Truth or Dare.” He was also the tour director on the Girlie Show tour in 1993. Ciccone decorated several of Madonna’s homes and pivoted to a career as an interior designer. He was one of several gay men who had a formative influence on Madonna’s aesthetic and pop persona.

The siblings’ relationship cooled sometime in the late ‘90s. Ciccone published a memoir, “Life With My Sister Madonna,” in 2008, in which he claimed that their relationship was strained over creative and financial differences and because of her marriage to British filmmaker, Guy Ritchie. But by 2012, Ciccone said he was back on good terms with his sister.

In more recent years, he’d moved back to Michigan, where his family operates a vineyard, and continued to work as a painter and interior designer.

Ciccone’s death arrives just two weeks after his stepmother, Joan Ciccone, died of cancer. His older brother, Anthony, died last year. His mother died of breast cancer shortly after his birth in 1963.

Ciccone is survived by his sister Madonna, husband Ray Thacker and father Silvio Ciccone.

Unity and hope. These are the two words that have stuck with me since I watched“Reagan”.

For those of you who don’t know, the recent “Reagan” movie tells the story of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. As a movie producer myself, I was impressed by how incredibly well the film was crafted.

The most compelling feature of the movie was the story itself. “Reagan” focused on an essential and often overlooked component of President Reagan’s life: his deeply rooted Christian faith.

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It all started when young Reagan’s mother gave him a book called “That Printer of Udell’s.”  This book was the first time that Reagan learned the connection between faith and politics, and, in many ways, it became a map of his life and career.

I’m well aware that Ronald Reagan isn’t without his critics. But I don’t think people today realize just how popular he was. Today, elections are decided by a few key “battleground” states because it’s almost guaranteed how most states in our nation will vote.

Reagan didn’t face that issue. He was elected twice, in 1980 and 1984. In 1980, Reagan won 46 states, and in 1984, he only failed to win one.

That’s staggering.

Even though he was a Republican, Ronald Reagan won the vast majority of Democratic votes. The “Reagan” movie does an excellent job telling the story of why.

Ronald Reagan had a rare and remarkable combination of character and charisma. His Christian faith shaped his character. He stood for honesty, life, and integrity. Yet, he wasn’t mindlessly belligerent or antagonistic.

He was clear on what he believed, why he believed it, and was always ready to give thoughtful, reasoned answers. This earned him respect from everyone, even those who disagreed with his policies or beliefs.

President Reagan also always remembered his roots. He was raised in the small town of Dixon, Ill., and embodied small-town values and a kind, down-to-earth personality. Despite the intense pressures of politics and life on Capitol Hill, he never compromised on who he was.

That’s why this movie filled me with hope.

In a world that’s rife with political division, “Reagan” shows that unity is possible and that we can choose to reject the false dichotomy between conviction and kindness. Both can and should coexist in our political discourse.

There’s one more thing that I think everyone should take away from this important movie: You can be a person of faith and still care deeply about politics.

The world tries to tell us that faith and politics are opposed and that they should not be mixed. However, the life and testimony of Ronald Reagan and so many others tell a different story. They show that Christian values provide a solid foundation for policy, one that endures the test of time and can unify a bifurcated society.

I firmly believe we need more Christians in politics — people who are going to stand up for justice and life when so many others are compromising on crucial issues in the face of political pressure.

There is so much to learn from Ronald Reagan, but one thing stands above the rest: Faith and freedom are worth fighting for, no matter the odds or the opposition. It is time that Christians stop standing by while others lead. We must stand up for what is right and for politics to be a worthy arena.