By far the nastiest ‘V/H/S’ to date, this latest entry offers up a mean-spirited found-footage anthology of Halloween-themed stories that deliver trick-or-treat terror, murderous mayhem, and gruesome gore.
It kicks off with arguably the best episode: a fucked up, disturbing onslaught of creepiness where you’ll never hear “Coochie Coochie Coo” in the same way ever again. Two women, who acknowledge being too old to take part in the candy-looting fun, enter a house that contains the stuff of nightmares; a place that becomes a labyrinth with seemingly no escape as they face a myriad of victims trapped in their own misery. It’s a testament to the camera operator and the production design team that this episode sustains its atmosphere until the end.
Then we go back and forth between episodes of varying quality to the frame narrative – Diet Phantasma – which delivers some fun, darkly humorous, and bloody scenes of test trials for a new soda drink (with unfortunate results for the subjects), and the grimy aesthetic really sells the era it wants to emulate. People die in horrifying ways, and Dr. Rothschild enters the ‘V/H/S’ shortlist for best villain with his amusing indifference to the suffering that unfolds.
‘Ut Supra Sic Infra’ is a Spanish offering from ‘[REC]’ director Paco Plaza that delivers on possession and eye-plucking violence, but the crime reconstruction aspect of the story seemed unnecessary, sapping the momentum from the back-and-forth structure, even if it does end really well with the aforementioned horror violence.
‘Fun Size’ is one of the more creatively demented segments in the franchise, delivering on all manner of crudeness, cringey-ness, and gruesomeness as a group of trick-or-treaters find themselves swallowed by a bowl of candy, transported to a parallel reality, and then chased along blood-stained corridors by something in a mascot costume demonstrating supernatural powers. The original kills and wacky tone, augmented by carnival music, ultimately won me over in the end, overshadowing the poor acting from some of the cast.
Usually there’s a bad episode or two in this franchise, but ‘V/H/S/Halloween’ is fairly consistent, and I appreciated that just when you think an episode might be a dud, it’ll unfurl into something diabolical and disgusting like the final two segments do here. ‘Kidprint’ becomes devilishly cruel with its torture aspects and pessimistic finale, even though it overall lacked some entertaining elements and solely delivered on the nastiness. Whereas ‘Home Haunt’ – about a couple setting up an elaborate haunted house – went all out on its budget and was highly enjoyable, featuring some fantastic, old-school, splattery practical effects once a record playing causes the monstrous decorations to come to life and slaughter the attendees. It’s graphic and batshit in execution (in the best possible way) and concludes with a broomstick POV shot and the cackling carnage a witch is capable of as she massacres trick-or-treaters in her manic getaway.
Overall, I was satisfied with this creative and brutal selection of horror shorts. It really delivered on each premise, one way or another, displayed an affection for 80s horror, and captivated with bloodthirsty creativity! On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many kids die in a film before.
Coochie Coochie Coo = 8/10
Ut Supra Sic Infra = 6/10
Fun Size = 7/10
Kidprint = 6/10
Diet Phantasma = 7/10
Home Haunt = 8/10
Overall score = 7/10
The SS Criticism 