The V/H/S franchise has never been shy about experimentation, eight entries in and this wickedly enjoyable series is still full of surprises.
V/H/S/Halloween feels like one of its most thematically cohesive entries to date. Leaning hard into the anarchic spirit of its namesake, the latest instalment wraps its found-footage nightmares around urban legends, childhood fears, and the uniquely unhinged energy that only Halloween can summon.
Rather than anchoring itself to a single era like the two’ 90s-set sequels and V/H/S 85, or pivoting genres as boldly as V/H/S Beyond, V/H/S/Halloween thrives on variety. As fans have come to expect, it’s a grab bag of tricks and treats from an eclectic lineup of filmmakers, each bringing their own flavour of terror while still playing within the franchise’s grimy VHS sandbox.
The opening segment, Coochie Coochie Coo (written and directed by Anna Zlokovic), sets the tone perfectly. Mixing playground folklore with unsettling imagery, it taps into the primal fear of childhood vulnerability. There’s something deeply off-putting about Halloween seen through the eyes of kids brushing up against a legend they only half-believe, and the segment milks that discomfort with confidence.
Paco Plaza’s Ut Supra Sic Infra shifts gears into something more oppressive and dread-soaked. Built around memory, trauma, and the impossibility of closure, it slowly tightens the noose rather than going straight for the jugular. Plaza understands atmosphere better than most, and the segment crawls under your skin long before it bares its teeth.
Things take a surreal turn with Casper Kelly’s Fun Size, which leans into absurdist horror without losing its menace. There’s a warped, almost fairy-tale logic at play here, twisting something as innocent as Halloween sweets into a genuinely unsettling scenario. It’s strange, imaginative, and feels perfectly at home in the V/H/S universe.
Kidprint, from Alex Ross Perry, is arguably the darkest entry in the collection. Grounded in real-world fears rather than supernatural spectacle, it’s the kind of segment that lingers long after the credits roll. It trades splatter for creeping unease, proving once again that the most effective horror doesn’t always need monsters. Rounding out the main stories is Home Haunt by Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman, which embraces classic haunted-house chaos. It’s playful, mean-spirited, and increasingly unhinged as it goes on, capturing the dangerous edge of DIY Halloween traditions gone wrong.
Threaded throughout the film is Bryan M. Ferguson’s frame narrative Diet Phantasma, which ties the segments together with a darkly comic throughline. While the franchise has flirted with abandoning framing devices altogether, this one works well, providing connective tissue without overstaying its welcome. On a side note, this story is my overall favourite from what is an incredibly strong collection of stories, no filler here, only deliriously killer.
As ever, V/H/S/Halloween isn’t trying to convert found-footage sceptics. The shaky camerawork, lo-fi aesthetics, and frantic energy are baked into its DNA. But for fans of the franchise, this entry delivers exactly what you want: horrific ideas, unpredictable swings, and a willingness to get weird, really really weird. Not every segment lands with the same impact, but that’s always been part of the anthology charm. What matters is that V/H/S/Halloween understands its assignment. It’s mean, mischievous, occasionally hilarious, and frequently disturbing, what more can you ask for from an anthology that captures the chaos of Halloween night better than most polished studio horror ever could.
14 years and eight instalments, and two spin-offs (Siren, Kids vs Aliens) behind it, the V/H/S franchise should be running on fumes. However, V/H/S/Halloween proves there’s still plenty of cursed tape left to play. For horror fans who like their scares messy, imaginative, and a little bit feral, this is very much a treat.
V/H/S Halloween is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital on February 9. If you’re feeling lucky, why not enter our competition to win the movie on Blu-ray.
