V/H/S/Halloween

It was high time a V/H/S flick got made with the Halloween theme. Like with each instalment, it's ideal to analyse segment-by-segment:

"Diet Phantasma" (wraparound narrative) - Prologue Written and directed by Bryan M. Ferguson, this one's my least favourite in the film overall. It has that late '80s look and solid practical effects, but given that the same thing repeats itself between segments (consume soda or get close to it, go insane), it became incredibly less impactful by the end. (2/5)

"Coochie Coochie Coo" The story takes place around 2009 and features some interesting lore. Two high schoolers go trick-or-treating (for the final time, ugh) and end up getting stuck at a house with a mysterious occupant (or occupants?). The one's a load of fun -- creepy make-up effects, some unexpectedly disgusting finds, shaky cam 101, and a pretty satisfying finale. (3/5)

"Ut Supra Sic Infra" Paco Plaza (of REC, Veronica, and Sister Death) comes up with a crime reconstruction plot at a supposed psychic's mansion. The setup and payoffs here are predictable, and there's a surprising amount of eye-gouging here, which made me want to look away. But besides the action-packed finale, there isn't much to write home about for a filmmaker of Plaza's calibre. (2.5/5)

"Fun Size" What a blast! This is, hands down, my pick. Casper Kelly's segment is the perfect mix of laughs, gross-out gore, and tension-driven thrills. Glad this segment was positioned as the "centrepiece" because it had pretty much everything I wanted from a V/H/S segment. The effects are great, the payoffs are solid, and there's scope for a full-length film here, if characters can be well-developed. Give this guy a budget! (4/5)

"Kidprint" Alex Rose Perry writes and directs the darkest segment in the film, revolving around a serial (kidnapper and) killer with a video fetish. The segment holds nothing back when it comes to depicting violence and harm against kids and adolescents, with some really gruesome imagery coming your way. The plot is quite thin and unfolds quickly, but the gnarly effects do capture your attention. (3/5)

"Home Haunt" Micheline Pitt-Norman & R. H. Norman's segment feels eerily familiar to a short story I wrote almost a decade ago, with a family haunt gradually turning into a hellish portal. It also has a bit of the Hell House LLC hangover to it, but there are some surprises too, with a really captivating (and brutal) finale. A pretty solid segment, if not a great one. (3/5)

Overall, it's good to see the impressive segments outnumbering the disappointing ones in this edition of V/H/S. Let's keep the yearly tradition going -- it not only gives rise to new, creative voices in the horror genre, but also opens the doors for them to materialise their larger ideas in the near future.

Let's face it, the V/H/S franchise hasn't been poppin' since 2013. The last five entries being a mixed bag of cheap effects and Hallmark level acting.

The self-awareness is dialled up to 11 here. "Diet Phantasma" a decidedly superior wraparound to 'Beyond'. "Ut Supra Sic Infra" refreshingly creepy if not for the final gag.

"Kidprint" is proof this series can still be disturbing with less emphasis on the unconvincing splatter.

A decent anthology of horror films. Some miss their marks but the others hit a home run. The good out way the bad, like getting a King sized candy bars but also getting an apple with a worm. A decent amount of gore and special effects. The acting is basic horror film most of the time and the dialogue can stretch the definition of normal.

I'm someone who has watched every V/H/S film, and like all of them, they have always been pretty mediocre, and V/H/S/Halloween is no different. Like every other V/H/S film, there are some interesting moments in each segment, but a lot of times, I am just left wondering what I just watched.

One of the segments felt like I was seeing someone's fetish turned into a horror story. Also, while I do have to give props for 2 segments having the guts to do some horrible things to some characters that most filmmakers would avoid (even the director of Teriffier mentions they won't do it), but I can't help but feel one of the segments just did it for shock value, cause there was nothing else to the segment. Also, most of the segments don't even bother trying to give a reason why they are recording everything, with one giving probably the lamest excuse yet.

Lastly, this is an issue I have with the whole V/H/S franchise, but what's the point of calling your franchise V/H/S if most of your segments are shot on digital cameras? At least 94, 99, and 85 did it right in having all the segments set in a time when V/H/S was the main source of recording video. However, in the original trilogy, Beyond, and now Halloween, you're clearly seeing people recording with cell phones, GoPros, and Digital cameras, which just makes me ask why bother calling yourself V/H/S?

Overall, if you are a fan of the V/H/S series, this is more of the same, just with a more Halloween focus and no improvement on the many flaws this franchise has.

This film felt a disjointed. I prefer the V/H/S films that have a running background story behind the different stories. There's no explanation as why to the audience is viewing the clips. The acting is about like the earlier films, some actors are decent, some are awful. The quality of the stories are more consistent the some of the previous films, so that was a plus. Worth a watch if you like the previous films or anthology films.