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Credit: Shudder
One of the most widely understood fixtures of horror fandom is that the more sequels a franchise has, the greater the chances are for diminishing returns with each film. Amityville Horror and Texas Chain Saw Massacre fans are all too aware of it, though rare exceptions can and do exist. (See: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Saw X, the Scream requels.) As such, it’s not even a candid confession to say I had minimal confidence the V/H/S anthology could still possibly deliver a “series-best” entry at this point in the run.
It turns out my expectations are worthy of being toilet-papered and pelted with rotten eggs, because V/H/S/Halloween is not only the best V/H/S film yet, but it’s also one of the most fun horror anthologies of the modern era. Rather than focusing on a specific year, similar to several past entries, producers Josh Goldblum and Brad Miska instead organically leaned into the most apropos holiday possible for found-footage, and the result is all treats, zero tricks.
Diet Phantasma – Directed By Bryan M. Ferguson
The wraparound segment for this year’s entry, Diet Phantasma is essentially a series of recorded consumer feedback interviews revolving around a newly introduced formula for the soft drink Diet Phantasma. To say the potable has a bite would be putting it mildly, and these segments serve as quick and exceedingly gnarly pops between the longer segments.
Coochie Coochie Coo – Directed By Anna Zlokovic
Director Anna Zlokovic previously adapted her Bite-Sized Horror episode “Appendage” into a full-length 2023 feature, but I can only hope that “Coochie Coochie Coo” is a sign of how her career is evolving: this viscerally disturbing segment could easily serve as textbook “how-to” guidance for future V/H/S filmmakers and beyond. Here, a group of teens find themselves trapped in a truly haunted house with an child-snatching entity dubbed “The Mommy,” and seemingly every kind of worthwhile scare tactic is thrown into the mix for a cacophonous assault on the senses. Anyone seeking out Halloween candy munchies will likely have their appetite thwarted by what transpires within The Mommy’s abode.
Ut Supra Sic Infra – Directed By Paco Plaza
Paco Plaza co-wrote and co-directed one of cinema’s most effective found-footage movies to date, 2007’s [REC], which anchored the aesthetic to a TV reporter and her cameraman. His segment in V/H/S/Halloween skews more to zeitgest-y obsessions with true crime content, and centers on the sole survivor of a eye-poppingly brutal massacre. In an attempt to figure out a timeline of events from the night before, the survivor takes police on a doomed journey that embraces the phrase “as above, so below” both literally and figuratively. My favorite found-footage moments involve audiences witnessing things that would truly be unbelievable, and that idea gets spun around quite nicely in “Ut Supra Sic Infra.”
Fun Size – Directed By Casper Kelly
The creator of Adult Swim’s seminal “Too Many Cooks” short (as well as co-creator of Stroker & Hoop, Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell and more), Casper Kelly unsurprisingly delivers the most hilariously bonkers entry in the anthology, which sets up no fewer than three distinct moments that will 100% cause viewers to holler out in amused disgust. It’s a cautionary tale about teens who don’t follow a candy bowl’s “one per person” rule, as well as a warning that the urban legends of razorblades in apples isn’t the most disturbing takeaway one can get while trick-or-treating.
Kidprint – Directed By Alex Ross Perry
Though not the most seasoned in horror fare, filmmaker Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell, Listen Up Philip) helms arguably the most directly bothersome segment in V/H/S/Halloween, and one that naturally involves his lifelong love of video stores. “Kidprint” centers on just such a business that supplies the titular child-centric videos that are ideally meant to be used by police in cases where children go missing. But once connections are made between the service and the disappearances, how much of it is coincidence and how much is pure evil?
Home Haunt – Directed By Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman
“Home Haunt” is essentially a contained and wildly more adult take on Marlon Wayans’ spooky family comedy The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and I dare say, it’s more worthy of viewers’ time. The segment centers on a home haunt whose freaky props and attractions come to live due to a cursed LP. It’s the latest from married co-directors Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman, who helmed the acclaimed 2021 short Grummy with teen scream queen Violet McGraw.
Despite still boasting plenty of the usual nitpicks that one can make about V/H/S movies (and horror anthologies in general) (an overlong runtime, largely forgettable characters, simplistic storytelling, nausea-inducing camerawork),V/H/S/Halloween is somehow greater than the sum of its parts. And there are lots of parts strewn about – believe me. It may not be the most cohesive horror movie you’ll see in 2025, but it’s absolutely worth the price of a month of Shudder.
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