Usually, when a franchise rolls into its eighth film, it is well past its long overdue to put the thing to bed, permanently. However, the V/H/S franchise is an odd case in that regard, starting strong in 2012, then eventually growing stale and lazy. But it’s bounced back to form, bringing us the newest entry, V/H/S/Halloween. There is no longer any way to escape the familiar formula and setup, which immediately makes it a tough sell. However, some segments are good—even great—and the combination of comedy and gore is something horror fans will really want to check out.
The V/H/S series format remains the same in this latest installment. The first part, “Diet Phantasma,” serves as the wrap-around story, weaving its way in between the other segments. It’s all about unknowing test subjects being given a soda to see what they think, only to have them all experience side effects of the most gruesome and gory kind. These things will make horror fans laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of the gore, blood, chaos, and imaginative ways in which everyone suffers because of the drink.
The film’s strength lies in its effective combination of horror and comedy. The comedic aspect elevates the movie beyond simple gore, which can be a bit of a bore on its own after a while. However, when V/H/S/Halloween moves too far from the comedy, it becomes a bit tiresome, and the almost two-hour runtime doesn’t help. The segments could have been shorter, perhaps four instead of five, but there were still some great moments throughout.
The first segment, “Coochie Coochie Coo,” directed and written by Anna Zlokovic, started strong and fell flat, relying on cliches and featuring too many moments we’ve seen before. However, Casper Kelly’s “Fun Size” was extremely fun, as kids ignore the note “one per person” on a bowl of candy and are sucked into a hellish world of torture and mayhem.
“Ut Supra Sic Infra,” directed by Paco Plaza and written by Plaza and Alberto Marini, is perhaps the most tense and suspenseful of the lot. The segment combines a murder investigation that involves the victim’s eyes being removed. It’s a mixed bag, offering a combination of suspense, comedy, gore, and a redundant machine that churns out the same thing.
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The strangest segment, which had an odd vibe, was Alex Ross Perry’s “Kidprint.” It revolved around a video store that made videos of kids in case they went missing. Of course, many of the kids do go missing, sparking an investigation that gets strange.
The final segment, “Home Haunt,” is written and directed by Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman. An annual tradition of creating a scary haunted home goes too far, thanks to an obsessed dad, and a possessed LP brings out more than they bargained for. Again, a lot of things here we’ve all seen before, and a weird way to wrap the film up.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with some of these segments, and the horror genre is well-represented at times, thanks to the great combination of horror and comedy. Gore and blood run rampant, and the “Diet Phantasma” story becomes an entertaining guessing game of just what reaction the poor test subject will have to the soda this time.
I have to give a shout-out to the different directors, who tried to bring something unique and different to each story. While the results were mixed, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort. Some of the practical effects worked well, whether over-the-top or more subdued.
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In the end, was the eighth film in this franchise a success? Well, I can’t say I’ve had this much fun with a movie this far into a franchise before, so that in itself has to be deemed a win. I’m not sure how much longer V/H/S intends to go on, but V/H/S/Halloween, while not perfect by any stretch, was good enough to at least consider carrying on, hopefully, with something a little shorter and less predictable.
V/H/S/Halloween releases October 3rd, 2025, on Shudder.
