V/H/S/Halloween Blu Ray Review (Acorn Media)

V/H/S/Halloween is a 2025 found footage horror anthology directed by Bryan M. Ferguson (Bloody Bites, Pumpkin Guts, and Flamingo), R.H. Norman (Grummy), Casper Kelly (The Scooby-Doo Project, Adult Swim Yule Log, Buddy, and Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell), Alex Ross Perry (Videoheaven, Pavements, Impolex, The Color Wheel, Her Smell, and Golden Exits), Micheline Pitt-Norman (Grummy, Paco Plaza (REC franchise, Veronica, Sister Death, Eye for an Eye, and Small Gauge Trauma), and Anna Zlokovic (Bite Size Halloween, Appendage, and Sienna Byrd). It was produced by Derek Dauchy (The Vile, Late Night with the Devil, Watcher, The Animal, xXx, The Fog, Victor Frankenstein, and Anger Management), Josh Goldbloom (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/Beyond, This is Gwar, and Kids vs. Aliens), Roy Lee (The Strangers franchise, IT franchise, Weapons, The Long Walk, The Ring franchise, The Grudge franchise, The Departed, Companion, Cobweb, Strange Darling, Doctor Sleep, Godzilla franchise, and the V/H/S franchise), Brad Miska (Silent Night Deadly Night, Street Trash, Terrifier 3, Siren, and the V/H/S franchise), Schneider brothers (Paranormal Activity franchise, Insidious franchise, Split, Glass, Knock at the Cabin, Trap, Pet Sematary, Old, and The Lords of Salem), and James Harris (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/Beyond, Wrong Turn, Bull, Cockneys vs Zombies, 47 Meters Down franchise, The Strangers: Prey at Night, Coyotes, and ABCs of Death 2). It follows V/H/S, Siren, V/H/S/2, V/H/S Viral, V/H/S TV series, V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/85, and V/H/S/Beyond. A collection of Halloween-themed videotapes unleashes a series of twisted, blood-soaked tales, and it turns trick-or-treating into a struggle for survival. “Diet Phantasma” is a low-calorie tale of corporate terror when volunteers are put to the test with this mysterious soda created by Blaine Rothschild (played by: David Haydn from Age of the Living Dead and Retribution). “Coochie Coochie Coo” follows two unsuspecting high school students Lacie (played by: Samantha Cochran from The Cure) and Kaleigh (played by: Natalia Montgomery Fernandez from My Ex’s Best Friends). They have one last hurrah as trick-or-treaters and it quickly becomes a real life nightmare. “Ut Supra Sic Infra” shows the aftermath of the sole survivor of a ritualistic massacre in Madrid. He recounts the shocking events that changed his life forever. It proves that universal supernatural laws apply everywhere. “Fun Size” shows two reckless young couples which includes Lauren (played by: Lawson Greyson from Billionaire’s Borrowed Bride and Cherished by My Ex-Husband’s Brother), Josh (played by: Riley Nottingham from President’s Daughter Breaks the Casting Couch and Summer Situationship), Haley (played by: Jenna Hogan from Surviving the Sleepover, Secret Life of the Dean’s Wife, Real Monsters, and Share?), and Austin (played by: Jake Ellsworth from Party of Darkness, E4 Mafia, Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, and Scary Fun) get multiple pieces of candy after ignoring a strict warning sign saying take only one at a house they never should have visited in the first place. They all have to pay for their greed when it all backfires on the group. “Kidprint” focuses on a dangerous spree of child disappearances cancels Halloween in a small community. A wolf in sheep’s clothing continues to torture and mutilate these poor kids. The only connection between all of them is that they made videos with Tim Kaplan (played by: Stephen Gurewitz from Zeros and Ones, Her Smell, Entertainment, Eco-Village, and The Scary of Sixty-First). This small town is full of fear as a gruesome reveal is exposed to the public. “Home Haunt” shows a father Keith (played by: Jeff Harms from Monster, Mank, Jeff Hobbs, and The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo) and son Zack (played by: Noah Diamond from They Don’t Cast Shadows and It Clicked Too Late for Kiligan Cruz) bonding experience that takes a brutal turn when a cursed vinyl creates a legit haunted house that doesn’t hesitate to kill everyone that it encounters. Who will survive in these awful situations that push the limits on horror???? I usually don’t really enjoy much from the found footage sub-genre but I do love the V/H/S. It’s one of the better horror anthology franchises in horror. The last few have went with a concept for the whole feature and this one is no different. It all focuses on the holiday Halloween and it has a variety of interesting shorts related to it. The directors are mainly newcomers but it does include Paco Plaza, Alex Ross Perry, and Casper Kelly. Like every horror anthology project, it’s very hit or miss when it comes all of the stories. The biggest name when it comes to the acting here is legendary special fx artist Rick Baker (It’s Alive franchise, An American Werewolf in London, Videodrome, The Funhouse, Planet of the Apes, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Wolf, Nutty Professor franchise, Men in Black, Coming to America, Batman Forever, Gremlins 2, and Escape from L.A.) as the grumpy neighbor Rich in Home Haunt. The rest of the cast includes David Haydn, Samantha Cochran, Natalia Montgomery Fernandez, Lawson Greyson, Riley Nottingham, Jenna Hogan, Jake Ellsworth, Stephen Gurewitz, Jeff Harms, Noah Diamond, Becca Murphy (Pumpkin Guts), Joshua Frater-Loughlin (The Strangers), Elena Musser (Winter’s Blood), Adam Carr (American Killing), Charlotte Mae Curtis, Teo Planell (Ma Ma), María Romanillos (Olympo), Almudena Amor (Sister Death), Sonia Almarcha (Veronica), Sandra Escacena (Veronica), Michael J. Sielaff (V/H/S/Beyond), Carl Garrison (Hostile), Shino Nakamichi (Halloween Candy), Sarah Nicklin (Popeye the Slayer Man), Hallie Ruth Jacobs (Poker Face), Sean Berube (Better Call Saul), Isabella Feliciana (Shifting Gears), and Lize Johnston (The Exorcist: Believer). The true highlight for V/H/S/Halloween is it’s old school practical special fx. Each segment brought a different kind of brutality to this long running horror series. This is one of the most gruesome and bloody efforts from the V/H/S universe so far. It has some wlld monsters, nasty deaths, and surprising violence all over. I really enjoyed each short for this Halloween themed movie but I honestly thought Ut Supra Sic Infra was the weakest entry here. It kinda felt random compared to all of the others. My personal favorites were Diet Phantasma, Fun Size, and Home Haunt. This tackles all kinds of different sub-genres for horror like corporate, body, supernatural, taboo, survival, and haunted house. It has a little bit of everything for everyone when it comes to the genre. Usually, a few of these segments I could easily see as possible full length features but I felt like this was the perfect format for Diet Phantasma, Coochie Coochie Coo, Ut Supra Sic Infra, Fun Size, Kidprint, and Home Haunt. I thought V/H/S/Halloween was an improvement over the last few sequels and they are going back in the right direction. Halloween is highly entertaining, morbidly fun, and it’s never boring. I love the fact that it doesn’t hold back at all here. I think it has potential for strong replay value to it. Hopefully, they continue the V/H/S franchise after this. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Acorn Media! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks great on home video for being a lower budget found footage horror anthology. As you know, they make these segments to resemble VHS quality to go with it’s concept. It’s still high quality for being that retro style. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc. Each short has it’s own unique vibe to it so others are a little louder and more audio heavy for V/H/S/Halloween but it definitely has it’s crazy scenarios that really stand out. All of the dialogue is crisp, the chaos is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH and French subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with the filmmakers from all of these segments. They break down the development of their shorts. They go over all kinds of behind the scenes details including personal stories and inside information about their shoots. If you want to learn more about this V/H/S sequel then I suggest giving this a listen. It has the little over 4 minute “Behind the Scenes: Diet Phantasma”. It has all kinds of additional footage from the set here. Lots of gore and special fx are displayed in it. It has the almost 5 minute “Behind the Scenes: Coochie Coochie Coo”. This one has all kinds of focus on the crew members from the production. They drop some comments every once in awhile mixed with all of the footage from the shoot. It has the under a minute “Kidprint Deleted Scene”. It has the little over 16 minute “Diet Phantasma – Uninterrupted Cut” directed by Bryan M. Ferguson. It takes the wraparound story and it gives you the full version without any of the other segments popping up in between it all. This is actually a great addition to this home video release, I wish they did this more with the wraparound material. It has the “Diet Phantasma Commerical” that’s 28 seconds. It has the almost 5 minute “Diet Phantasma Gallery”. It’s available everywhere right now in the U.K. and select spots in the states. This is Region Free and it’s out two months before the U.S. version, CHECK IT OUT!!!!