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Horror fans attending Fantastic Fest 2023 were treated to the world premiere of V/H/S/85. Now the sixth installment of the hit found footage anthology franchise, which is still going strong after more than 10 years, V/H/S/85 is yet another success. The film is broken into four (although I would argue five) segments all tied together by a wrap-around segment. Each story being told is unique in its own way and speaks to a lot of the societal fears of the 80’s.

In past installments of this franchise, the wrap-around story would depict people discovering and watching old VHS tapes that were seemingly collected by a bizarre cult for some nefarious purpose. V/H/S/85 does things a bit differently. This time, the formatting is more like a VHS tape that has a mix of shows recorded from TV as well as home movies from the family camcorder. The various segments include stories of supernatural lakes, death cults, ancient and new gods, serial killers, and even a shape-shifting alien entity. Audiences are sure to recognize many of the names behind this anthology including C. Robert Cargill (Sinister, The Black Phone), Zoe Cooper (V/H/S/99), Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Black Phone), Evan Dickson (Totem), Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn, The Domestics), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Culture Shock, Satanic Hispanics), Natasha Kermani (Imitation Girl, Lucky), and David Bruckner (The Night House, V/H/S). With such diversity in story, tone, and subgenre of horror, there is a little something for everyone to enjoy.

After seeing V/H/S/85, I’m happy to say it is one of, if not the strongest entry into the franchise. Some of the previous films might have individual segments I prefer mixed with others I don’t enjoy as much, but as a whole V/H/S/85 is the most consistently great V/H/S film. There isn’t any one story told that feels weaker than the rest, making for a thrilling movie-going experience. V/H/S/85 also does something no preceding entry has ever done before. While I won’t get into the specifics because viewers should get to experience it for themselves, I will say what’s done is surprising, funny, and delivers plenty of delightful carnage.

The team behind V/H/S/85 took great care to transport the audience back to the 80’s. While the most obvious nod to this era will likely be the grainy, video tape-like appearance of the segments, a slightly more subtle aspect is the fantastic costume design. Even with the different stories, each having very different wardrobes, they all look as though the characters truly came from 1985. The V/H/S/85 team also made sure to use almost entirely practical effects to create the gore, gods, and creatures shown on screen. While some of these were likely quite difficult to make and use on film, especially one particularly slimy tentacled creature, the hard work certainly paid off by giving the anthology a timelessness only practical effects could achieve. There’s only one segment that prominently features CGI graphics, but even these have a very 80’s aesthetic that fits well with the story being told.

With so many different narratives, V/H/S/85 naturally has a fairly sizeable cast among its various segments. Everyone delivers fantastic performances, but there are a few standouts. The first is Alex Galick (The Harbinger, Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge) as Rob. Rob is the loveable goofball cameraman featured in a segment titled “No Wake.” Even though his voice is more prominently featured than his face, Galick still gives a performance that easily endears the audience to him. Another standout from that same segment is Anna Sundberg (Fargo, I Am Not a Serial Killer) as Robin. Sundberg gives a layered portrayal of Robin, going from stony to carefree to determined in a short amount of time that still comes across as authentic. Two more memorable performances come from the segment titled “Dreamkill” featuring Freddy Rodríguez (Planet Terror, Poseidon) and James Ransone (Sinister, It Chapter 2) as a detective and video tech respectively. As they work together on a case involving a deranged serial killer and mysterious tapes, Rodríguez and Ransone play off of each other in a way that adds a touch of humor to the otherwise dark and twisted story.

V/H/S/85 makes a compelling case for being the strongest entry in the V/H/S franchise, telling a variety of frightening tales spanning different horror subgenres that are as seamless as they are entertaining. The huge crew making up the writers and directors behind V/H/S/85 clearly gave it their all to create an anthology of stories that work individually and as a collection. It’s another engrossing piece of cinema that is a case in favor of the found footage subgenre. Between the various stories, wonderful performances, and grotesque effects, horror fans are sure to enjoy this film. While I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen if you can, V/H/S/85 is coming to Shudder October 6th, 2023.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10