V/H/S/Halloween
The nights are drawing in, the leaves are turning and the decorations are going up; time to huddle in with friends for a night of horror movies in that most traditional of formats courtesy of the eighth in the long-running found footage series, V/H/S/Halloween opening with Diet Phantasma, written and directed by Bryan M Ferguson and presented as fragments, the sinister plan of Hallowe’en III rebranded as a nightmare in a soda can as researcher Mister Rothschild (David Haydn) lines up volunteer tasters, each test run giving the same result.
Written and directed by Anna Zlokovic, Coochie Coochie Coo sees Lacie and Kaleigh (Samantha Cochran and Natalia Montgomery Fernandez) taking their last chance for “twick or tweating” before they accept adult responsibility, pushy, obnoxious, childish and wanting more, stealing from kids and getting more than they bargained for, at times effective in its grim creepiness but with little substance beyond two screaming girls.
Best of the segments played straight, Ut Supra Sic Infra (“As above, so below”) is directed by Paco Plaza from a script co-written with Alberto Marini, adapting the format by mixing crime scene photos, the interrogation of sole survivor Enric (Teo Planell), phone footage of the tragic events at the house of the famous medium Roberta Marconi and video of the subsequent police re-enactment, technically inventive and impressive and coupled with the sense that what is coming is exactly what the Inspector (Ismael Martínez) as asked for.
The first of two comedy snacks, Fun Size sees the genius idea of Lauren and Josh (Lawson Greyson and Riley Nottingham) to dress as found footage camera operators, accompanying pirate Austin (Jake Ellsworth) and superhero Haley (Jenna Hogan) for a bowl of strange off-brand candy with a surprise at the bottom, a caramel-coated carnival of carnage with writer and director Casper Kelly knowing how to crank the wheel and work the gag.
Written and directed by Alex Ross Perry, the eponymous electronics store Kidprint run by Tim Kaplan (Stephen Gurewitz) is doing good business in the Hallowe’en season of 1992, capturing images of children for identification, his small town having had eight children vanish with two in the last week alone, but despite warning the kids still want to go out to meet their obvious fate in what becomes a dull and predictable excuse for graphic gore.
Better embracing the spirit is the Home Haunt built and hosted by Keith and his increasingly reluctant teenage son Zack (Jeff Harms and Noah Diamond) as “Doctor Mortis” and “Igor”, this year given an unexpected boost by the soundtrack provided by a stolen long-player of Hallowe’en Horrors, surprises conjured by writers and directors Micheline Pitt-Norman and R H Norman, fun both silly and messy for all the family to enjoy, if they survive.
V/H/S/Halloween will be available on Shudder from Friday 3rd October
