Since 2021, a new entry in the V/H/S franchise had blessed our screens every October, delivering terrifying visions of first-world POV horror. It feels like every year I say this entry is my new favorite, which feels redundant, I know. But somehow, producer Josh Goldbloom and his revolving team of directors band together every year to create increasingly violent takes on 20-minute found footage segments. And this year, the latest entry, V/H/S/Halloween, which had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025, is no different.
This new entry is a back-to-basics stack of nightmares that share not only the Halloween theme, but a wickedly demented sense of humor that’s both incredibly entertaining and incredibly dark. It’s truly a Halloween treat. The stronger uniting theme works in the film’s favor as the directors are each more focused. Rather than the theme of a single year or an entire subgenre, a single holiday better restricts the filmmakers, resulting in some of the most creative (and disgusting) segments the franchise has ever seen.
Bryan M. Ferguson starts the film off strong as he tackles this entry’s wraparound, which is framed as a series of videos recording taste tests for a new soda called Diet Phantasma. But this is no ordinary drink, as every subject who even looks at a can suffers a horrific death. Such is the nature of science experiments, though, right?
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Ferguson’s wraparound doesn’t necessarily unite the anthology through narrative, but it is the perfect tonal shift after each segment, which are their own brands of disgusting and disturbing. Each death is more disgusting and ridiculous than the last, which generates anticipation for each segment break. This isn’t just a framing device, but a smart way to break tension while still maintaining that demented tone and sense of humor.
Then, V/H/S/Halloween is off to the races with “Coochie Coochie Coo”, Anna Zlokovic’s take on monstrous motherhood complete with giant mommy milkers and a haunted house that belongs in Resident Evil 7. When two teens go trick-or-treating one last time before heading off to college, they ring the wrong doorbell and enter a never-ending house of horrors.
“Coochie Coochie Coo” is what I want when I hear monstrous motherhood. The production design and prosthetics work is perfectly vile and teeter on the edge of uncanny and silly, which makes Zlokovic’s segment all the more unsettling. Plus, the two leads are electric together, capturing the banter between two best friends beautifully in just a few minutes, which is no easy feat.
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Then, found footage legend Paco Plaza (co-creator of [REC]) goes more traditional supernatural in “Ut Supra Sic Infra”, but through two gnarly lenses as the segment intercuts between a young man guiding cops through a crime scene and footage from Halloween night when he murdered his friends. It’s a fascinating use of temporal space and stretching the theme to its limits.
Plaza’s segment is the simplest of the bunch, but that’s not a bad thing. He takes a simple idea and executes it well, while also playing with form and editing in effective ways. Plaza is showing his mastery of found footage while still ensuring to pack a nasty punch in the segment’s final moments.
The V/H/S/Halloween rollercoaster takes a sharp dive into liminal hell with Casper Kelly’s “Fun Size”, which explores the consequences of taking more than one candy bar from the bowl. The punishment? A hellish candy factory populated by freaky little candy men who taunt their prey with giggles and violent dismemberment. Think the back rooms, but full of little weirdos made of candy and rage.
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While it sounds purely funny, Kelly illustrates how deftly he’s able to walk the thin line between silly and horrific (just watch Adult Swim Yule Log for more proof). It’s an uncanny reality that’s out for blood, guts, and every body part possible. “Fun Size” is a fever dream manic episode, which is meant as a high compliment.
V/H/S/Halloween further descends into hell with Alex Ross Perry’s “Kidprint”, which is the director’s first official foray into horror. And boy is that foray disgusting and disturbing as it reveals the horrifying truth behind a series of missing children. It’s perhaps V/H/S at its most raw and upsetting, akin to Flying Lotus’ segment in V/H/S/99.
Plus, this is the rare segment that’s purely about the hells of humanity with nothing supernatural or paranormal at work. Perry shows that he isn’t afraid to get dark and that V/H/S isn’t afraid to go dark (and I hope that means they’ll go even darker in the future).
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Lifting the film back out of the pits of hell is Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman’s “Home Haunt”, which is equal parts delightful and demented. While it still sees the slaughter of plenty of minors, it’s also a fantastical tour through a neighborhood haunted house that comes to life after an unsuspecting dad plays a cursed record. In 20 minutes, the directing duo proves their gnarly creativity and uniquely nasty thinking with this love letter to practical effects
The production design is on point, and feels like something out of a fairy tale. But one of the original Grimm fairytales, not the water-downed versions put out by Disney. What starts as a wholesome family video devolves into disgusting Halloween chaos, complete with dismembered children aplenty.
V/H/S/Halloween proves that just as this franchise can innovate and go big, it can also go back to basics to deliver traditional, effective, disgusting scares that remind us of those Halloween movie marathons of our youth. Plus, this may just be the darkest entry yet as each segment sees the violent slaughter of at least one person under the age of 18. So, this Halloween, just remember: fuck them kids and watch V/H/S.
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