‘Trick or treat…’
The V/H/S franchise has become something of a horror mainstay in recent years with a new instalment released every October. V/H/S Beyond, released in 2024 and the seventh film in the franchise, focused on aliens and cosmic horror, while this iteration wisely chooses Halloween itself as the thematic glue that binds the five short films together. Unsurprisingly, this simple conceit works well…
The framing device here sees a group of paid participants trying out a new soft drink called Diet Phantasma. Unfortunately, as the drink contains extracts of viscious poltergeists, the subjects are dispatched in increasingly dark and gruesome ways. It’s a lot of fun. The main stories include one tale of trick or treating gone wrong (written and directed by Anna Zlokovic, another that takes in a bizarre murder scene at a Halloween party (from REC director Paco Plaza), another tale about a trick or treating mishap (from Casper Kelly), an incredibly dark tale about abducted children (from Alex Ross Perry) and finally, Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman deliver an old-fashioned witch narrative.
Taken together, this is one of the most consistent entries in the V/H/S franchise and had the final entry been stronger, it could potentially have been in the running to be credited as the best entry overall. It probably falls just short of V/H/S ’94 on that count, but the segments from Zlokovic and Ross Perry are some of the most successful work this franchise has yet produced. The framing device, freed from the conceit of having to explain the origin of the other videos, is also one of the most enjoyable of the franchise.
V/H/S Halloween is confirmation that this found footage anthology series has become one of the most anticipated releases on the horror calendar every October. At a time when there aren’t many true blue horror franchises left, it’s comforting to know that this scrappy little series is still a going concern. Sign me up for next year’s edition.
