NOW ON SHUDDER! The 8th film in the popular V/H/S series has just hit Shudder: V/H/S/Halloween. I’m not sure why it took them eight entries and 13 years to release a Halloween-themed entry, but you know what they say – better late than never. It seems like Halloween would’ve been the first thing to hit their creative minds with this series, but alas, it was not.
The first V/H/S, produced by Bloody Disgusting, was released as a found-footage horror anthology film in 2012, capitalizing on two popular horror trends of the time: found-footage and anthologies. The first segment of this film is titled “Amateur Night” and has become the subject of a popular meme since then. The first three films had limited theatrical runs, while the latest five have all been released straight to Shudder, the most popular horror streaming service available today. They release one once a year, somewhere around Halloween, and they show no sign of stopping anytime soon.
V/H/S/Halloween opens with a wraparound segment focused on a taste-test experiment for a new Halloween-themed drink. You soon find that the purpose of the drink is not to refresh your taste buds, but rather another, much more nefarious motive. It reminds me a bit of Halloween III (one of the greatest Halloween-themed films of all time), although we have no master thespians such as Dan O’Herlihy or Tom Atkins.
“… a collection of Halloween-themed found footage horror shorts to quench your thirst for blood…”
Our interstitial segments all include stories that occur either while our characters are trick-or-treating or attending Halloween parties. Much in the tradition set by The Twilight Zone, many of our victims become so as comeuppance for doing something morally unjust earlier in the story. We’ve got teens stealing candy from kids. We’ve got people being jerks to kids and adults alike who are just trying to enjoy their Halloween. We’ve got people taking all the candy from honor-system “Take One Piece” bowls. We’ve got people breaking into places that don’t belong to them in order to become popular on social media. We’ve got someone stealing a haunted item to use at his home haunt. We’ve got it all!
V/H/S/Halloween might just be the best entry in the series since the original. Or at least since V/H/S/2. Altogether, you’re getting a decent collection of Halloween-themed found footage horror shorts to quench your thirst for blood this Halloween. And the best part is, you don’t have to wait for Halloween. It’s streaming on Shudder now. This Halloween, your teeth won’t be the only thing rotting from drinking soda.
"…best entry in the series since the original."
