Annnnndddd….it’s back! One of the more beloved found footage cult franchises is back for a special Halloween special. I believe the last movie, V/H/S Beyond, was released right about a year ago, around October of 2023. From what I remember, it was serviceable for fans and, regardless, these movies are just plain ol’ wacky, over the top, and just fun. Oh, and yes, at times, it can be scary when it wants to as well. V/H/S Halloween is not one to be missed by fans. However, there are times when I wish that they’d be more consistent with the themes of the episodes.

Diet Phantasma – The series is known to have weird and bizarre skits in between episodes. Here in Halloween, we have Diet Phantasma. A bunch of scientists are testing a new soda drink on volunteers. Each of them is locked in a room, and away they go. It’s a fun one, but I thought it was going to go in a different direction where the volunteers, upon drinking the soda, would have some sort of random superpower ability for a short amount of time. Instead, well, they just either get attacked by the drink itself or literally explode. The ending was also a bit disappointing but served its purpose.

Coochie Coochie Coo – Quite literally the best episode in the entire movie is shown right at the beginning. Coochie Coochie Coo is bizarre, creepy, and most importantly, scary. Yes, all three. Once the two girls are locked in the house, the atmosphere instantly turns into something otherworldly and the tension skyrockets once they meet the matriarch of the family. That creepy ass mom with her six or eight breasts leaking milk was just wholly freaky! Not to mention, the creepy baby faces really added to the theme for this one. The best thing? There was no gore or torture porn at all. Unfortunately, this is as good as it’s going to get for this movie.

Ut Supra Sic Infra – I liked this one as well. So far, the movie is off to a good start. Here, we have a lone survivor after a Halloween party massacre where the victims are all found with their eyes gouged out and missing. The detectives then work with him to go backwards and have the survivor show them exactly what happened. I like the idea of the back-and-forth format between the past and the present. Even though the directors don’t have a lot of time per episode, they made it work here. It’s in this episode that we begin to see the gore, but again, I felt that it was well-fit into the episode. Him regurgitating the eyeballs of the previous victims was just pure nastiness. All in all, it was another good episode. It starts to go downhill from here on out.

Fun Size – Let the over-the-top wackiness begin! Fun Size I felt like was a pretty good break from the previous two episodes, which were more to my liking in that they were purely horror and tension. They weren’t what you’d call “fun” or “wacky”. Fun Size, on the other hand, is everything the previous two episodes weren’t. It’s a bit unsettling in that it’s still a bit creepy if you really think about it but provides a slight intermission break is what I felt it did.

Kidprint – Probably my least favorite episode of the bunch. A child kidnapper is on the loose during Halloween, and our MC is making tape recordings of kids in the off chance that they do get kidnapped themselves. Kinda weird in that the idea is so that instead of having only old photos to identify the child, a videotape audition of the child can be shared instead. I will say that the twist at the end was a bit unsatisfying only because I don’t think there was enough time to develop it. However, this episode, along with Coochie Coochie Coo, likely made for the best found footage camera work.

Home Haunt – Save the best for last? Maybe? Alas, no, not here. Rather than ending on a truly horrific episode like the first, which would be my preference, they decided to go the Fun Size route and exit with a silly and wacky (in a good way) episode instead. It did have a nice touch in the beginning, though, where it showcases how much fun a young boy is having with his father working together to build their haunted house attraction. The boy grows up and is shown to resent his father for continuing to force him to work on the project with him. Anyways, things go sideways when they begin the haunted house tour, and hilarity ensues. That witch part at the end, though, was pretty cool.

I’ll always be excited for the next V/H/S release. I hope they never end this franchise. One film a year or two would be awesome. At this point in the franchise, I’m well aware of what type of episodes get me excited and which ones don’t. Some are absolutely brilliant while some ultimately fall flat and are utterly forgettable. But I get it. It’s hard. With different directors getting a shot at each episode, each obviously brings something different to the table; otherwise, why do it that way? If I’m being honest, if all five episodes of V/H/S Halloween are similar to Coochi Coochi Coo, which is my favorite, would I be happy? I’m guessing maybe not. I think ultimately, the point I’m trying to get across is I want episodes to have a good balance of horror and wackiness, with a preference for the former. Yes, I understand that can be hard to achieve given the limited time per episode and the differences in creativity between the directors. Barring that, I’ll be willing to settle for one or two really good episodes per movie release.