Spooktacular Tapes: V/H/S/Halloween (2025) Review

Directors: Bryan M. Ferguson, Anna Zlokovic, Paco Plaza, Casper Kelly, Alex Ross Perry, Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman

 

It was once reasonably reliable, for at least a decade or so, that if it were the Halloween season, we would get one new entry into a major horror franchise. It was Saw for a while, then Paranormal Activity, and then there seemed to be a gap. That is, until Shudder decided to bring together a new V/H/S entry each October. Truthfully, I was a fan of the series from the first film, even when its quality ebbs and flows, so the decision to make this a yearly event was very welcome in my house. Last year, they started to morph the anthology series into more thematic entries, with the sci-fi slanted V/H/S/Beyond, so with bated breath we all awaited to find out what the 2025 edition would be. 

 

Turns out they called it V/H/S/Halloween. Oh. Perhaps not the most thrilling or unique choice for a theme, but here we are. 

 

Play It Like It's 1999: V/H/S/99 (2022) Review

Directors: Maggie Levin, Johannes Roberts, Flying Lotus, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter

The V/H/S franchise has been the launching point for a slew of careers, in some degree or another. While the series hit a low with the relatively sluggish third entry, V/H/S: Viral, when Shudder brought it back it was a welcome sight to see. And the overall success of the previous entry, V/H/S/94, was a stark reminder of why this found footage horror anthology could be a haven for fun and creative tidbits of tongue-in-cheek terror. 

 

The announcement of the newest entry, V/H/S/99 proved it as such and, while the fifth entry into this series does not quite find the highs of its predecessor, there are enough fun and punchy horror moments to satiate most fans. It runs the gamut from being silly to downright terrifying and that’s what a great anthology can do, even if this one finds the mix to be a little less effective at it with tons of build and only quick payoffs. 

V/H/S/94 (2021)

Directors: Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Ryan Prows

 

Another Halloween and another horror anthology film. One might read that sentence as a bad thing, but - hey - I’m all in on this trend. Particularly when it’s a revival of the impressive V/H/S series that were rocking the rails on two different horror cinema trends. The fourth film in the series, V/H/S/94, is a hell of a return to form after the forgettable misfire of the third film, V/H/S Viral. It’s a fun horror mixture of stories and approaches, it features some fun new reasons for people to be recording their stories, and there is a ton of new talent in executing those stories. For fans of either anthologies or found-footage horror, V/H/S/94 represents some of the best of both and kicks off the October spooky season nicely.