‘V/H/S’: A Guide to the Found Footage Horror Film Franchise and What We Know About ‘V/H/S/85’
Horror movie fans rejoice: Another installment in the V/H/S franchise is on the way! Before V/H/S/85 hits screens, here’s a refresher on the found footage horror series that’s gained a major following.
‘V/H/S’ movies are beloved by fans of found footage horror
The first V/H/S premiered in 2012, and horror fans loved the anthology movie. It soon became a cult classic for fans of the genre, especially those who enjoy “found footage” movies. This storytelling technique makes it seem like the movie is footage of an event that happened in real life. It’s most commonly used in horror movies, like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.
V/H/S presents a series of chilling tales, all on VHS tapes burglars find at the beginning of the film. While most thieves leave to ransack the house, some stay behind to watch these tapes.
As each tape ends, we return to the burglars, who disappear one by one. This narrative frame adds to the creepiness of the movie. Fans loved the premise of V/H/S, but critics were not as adoring: The movie scored just 56% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite a lackluster response from critics, V/H/S’s success with viewers led to multiple sequels, a spinoff, and a miniseries.
What are the ‘V/H/S’ sequels about?
V/H/S/2 came out the following year and follows the same basic premise. Private investigators are hired to look into the disappearance of a college student. When they enter his dorm room, they see a stack of VHS tapes, as well as a video of the missing student talking about the tapes.
After watching the tapes, one of the investigators gets hypnotized by the creepy stories and dies by suicide. The remaining investigator continues watching the tapes, putting together the mysteries of what happened. The sequel did much better with critics, scoring a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Another installment in the franchise came out the next year: V/H/S: Viral. In this movie, viral videos take the place of VHS tapes. Videos are sent to people’s phones, which then causes them to go violently insane. V/H/S: Viral failed to connect with audiences and critics, earning just 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
V/H/S/94 aired on the streaming service Shudder in 2021, returning to the VHS tape format. In this movie, a SWAT team investigates a cult’s mass suicide. As they move through the warehouse full of dead bodies, they watch a series of unsettling tapes left playing.
This movie is the highest-rated installment in the series, earning a 91% Rotten Tomatoes rating, making it Certified Fresh on the website.
The latest movie in the series, V/H/S/99, was released on Shudder in October of this year. This movie is different from the previous ones: It does not have a narrative frame. Instead, it presents a series of spooky stories, all set in 1999. V/H/S/99 earned a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Everything we know about ‘V/H/S/85’
Even though V/H/S/99 has just come out, Shudder just announced another addition to the horror anthology series. V/H/S/85 will hit the streaming service in 2023, but other than that, details are scarce.
Horror directors David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani, and Mike P. Nelson are all set to direct segments of the upcoming movie. No plots have been announced yet, but based on the title, it seems fair to assume the videos will be set in the ’80s.
Bruckner, who is also producing V/H/S/85, said of the upcoming movie, according to Jo Blo, “The V/H/S series is a continued love letter to found footage nastiness and the mad variety of anthology horror. Having helmed a segment of the OG film, I’m beyond excited to be back behind the camera in V/H/S/85, alongside some of my very favorite voices in the genre.“
