The unsung found footage horror series you need to see this Halloween

Found footage horror was all the rage in the 2010s, starting with small films Paranormal activity. The low-budget horror film about a recorded creepy house became a franchise and spawned a series of similar horror films ranging from claustrophobic If Up, so down to the screenlife terror of Open Windows. While Paranormal activity snuffed out, another Found Footage horror franchise marches enthusiastically on.

Like a found-footage horror anthology, V/H/S has been going on for more than a decade. Centered around the old format of VHS tapes, the series has continued with many sequels and spin-offs and is now a Halloween staple. If you have the V/H/S movies, you are missing the best Found Footage movie series.

V/H/S was developed by Brad Miska, the founder of horror company Bloody Disgusting, with the help of several filmmakers. The idea was loose enough to allow filmmakers to experiment with a wraparound segment, revealing creepy stories via VHS tapes. It was a thought-provoking idea for how experimental the short films could become, which led to the premiere of V/H/S in 2012.

The first V/H/S film was a little rough in how loose the wrap-around segment became, but it had fantastic talent. Rising horror directors like Ti West (Pearl) and Adam Wingard (You’re next) made grainy and distorted stories of recorded horror, with corpses surrounding VCRs and a honeymoon gone wrong. While these directors would move on to bigger horror films, V/H/S continued with more fresh talent.

Remarkable talents

V/H/S/2 (2013) was when the series started to find more of its groove and explore wilder territory. Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale’s “A Ride in the Park” made good use of the combination of a GoPro and a zombie outbreak, as a zombie marches on with a connected camera. Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Huw Evans’ ‘Safe Haven’ explores the wild uncertainty of trying to escape an Indonesian cult where the dark magic promoted becomes a horrific reality. Jason Eisener’s “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” was such a brilliant use of aliens that it would eventually become its own feature film spin-off, Children versus aliens.

Even before the spin-off and bigger films these directors later became known for, V/H/S/2s The potential was achieved through the mind-boggling use of the camera and the tape medium. It was a truly refreshing use of the Found Footage genre that the film didn’t need any additional gimmick to be released on an actual VHS tape (although you could order the film in that format). There were no limits to where the films could go.

The third movie, V/H/S: Viral (2014), showed a different kind of potential. The film attempted to expand on the concept by featuring cursed tapes spread via social media, with segments directed by the talents of Nacho Vigalondo (Time crimes) and the duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The endless). While I wasn’t a fan of this entry, it highlighted the necessity that would shape the franchise in the future. There had to be more than just VHS recordings for this anthology show to continue. It would take a few years, but eventually we would get a brilliant sequel.

A new horror house

In 2021, V/H/S did not return through Magnet Releasing’s distributor, but through the horror streaming platform Shudder. Co-written by David Bruckner, V/H/S/94 Framed another round of found footage, but with the requirement to set the stories in 1994. While the film revived the series and brought in some new talent such as directors Jennifer Reeder and Chloe Okuno, the film also boasted the return of directors Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto. There were some brilliantly executed ideas for this entry, with segments on funeral homes, racist cults, and the urban legend of the sewer-bound Rat Man.

After debuting at the Fantastic Fest and Beyond Fest film festivals, V/H/S/94 premiered on Shudder in early October 2021 to huge success with record ratings. The audience was enthusiastic to see the V/H/S franchise returns after nearly a decade of inactivity. And since Shudder didn’t have many original sequels, it made sense to continue with this found-footage series that attracted a lot of audiences.

A Halloween tradition

Next V/H/S/94As an annual tradition, a new film was released every October. The next year came V/H/S/99and I was impressed by how many wild horror stories could be framed circa 1999, ranging from creepy webcams to a millennium party that literally goes to hell. I especially loved director Flying Lotus’s “Ozzy’s Dungeon” segment, where he created a perfect satire of 1990s physical challenge game shows. Of all the horror films that tap into 1990s nostalgia, V/H/S/99 created an astute portrayal of retro horror that was more believable than an exaggeration for the time.

V/H/S/85 in 2023, he further tinkered with the format by presenting two connected segments, surrounding a deadly laboratory experiment, and featuring ‘Dreamkill’, the supernatural serial killer story directed by Scott Derrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill, the duo behind films like Doctor Strange And The black telephone. But just when it seemed like the anthology series was becoming predictable, the themes changed again. 2024 V/H/S/Past went with a sci-fi angle, and that of 2025 V/H/S/Halloween is, well, pretty clear about when the segments take place.

I’ve gotten used to having one V/H/S film every Halloween, mainly because of the artistic freedom for the directors. Nearly every entry is loaded with gruesome gore, distorted/creepy visuals, and fast enough pacing to keep the film under two hours. There is so much potential in this franchise and it feels like the most recent films have explored how far they can go, even with the boundaries they set in the titles.

V/H/S/Halloween

Release date

October 3, 2025

Duration

115 minutes

Director

Paco Plaza, Casper Kelly, Alex Ross Perry, Bryan M Ferguson, Anna Zlokovic, RH Norman

If you haven’t made it V/H/S As part of your Halloween tradition, you should consider this as it is the only recurring horror series that takes place every October. Loading it up on Shudder every year feels like you’re going to the cool house on the block where the king-size candy bars are handed out, but every Halloween it’s a different brand. It’s the house you have to stop at every year, even though this year there was a nice assortment of modern horror.

Simultaneous streams

1

Live TV

Yes

Shudder is a horror streaming service that streams many horror films, including the V/H/S horror anthology series.