V/H/S Halloween administrators say found-footage horror remains to be ‘onerous AF’

The most important exception to that rule is the continuing V/H/S collection, a horror anthology that spawned its personal growth in short-form horror and has stored the found-footage dream alive by way of seven themed installments. The eighth within the collection, 2025’s V/H/S Halloween, options 5 shorts that each one happen round Halloween, strung along with a wrapper story (“Weight loss plan Phantasma”) that has a brutally disengaged scientist main a collection of client product checks on a weight-reduction plan cola that kills the individuals sampling it in a wide range of messy, over-the-top methods.

At V/H/S Halloween’s world premiere on the 2025 version of Austin’s Improbable Fest movie pageant, all seven V/H/S Halloween administrators assembled for a post-screening Q&A the place director Anna Zlokovic described found-footage horror as “onerous as fuck to shoot.” Her co-directors cheered in response. Polygon sat down with all of them afterward to unpack why they really feel capturing a found-footage mission is tougher — or in a single case, simpler! — than making a traditional horror film.

This interview has been edited for concision and readability.

Polygon: I’ve talked to found-footage horror administrators earlier than about particular person photographs or moments that have been tough to get proper, however that is the primary time I’ve ever heard somebody simply outright say the style is universally tough. What do you see as the foremost challenges in found-footage horror?

Micheline Pitt, co-director of “House Hang-out”: I feel probably the most difficult factor as an artist is being restricted by your artistic concepts, as a result of all the things must be motivated by the particular person holding the digicam. So I feel that is the factor that is onerous as fuck for me, is to separate myself from my creativity and my concepts, and having to remain in a field.

Alex Ross Perry, director of “Kidprint”: I truly instructed her this final night time — I agree with that, however I additionally disagree with it vehemently in a really particular approach, as a result of I actually love an open set that is 360 levels. I discovered this to be so liberating, as a result of the blocking and the protection are the identical. In conventional filmmaking, the blocking and the protection are diametrically opposed. [Chorus of “Ooh!” “Hmm!”]

If the character has to look left, the protection has to look proper. And the truth that when you block the scene [in a found-footage movie], you have got found out your protection — that was so superb to me. I’ve seen 500 found-footage movies, however till you shoot your first found-footage mission… Day one, you are like, [realization] “Ohhh!”

So as soon as you recognize the place the character strikes, that is the protection — the digicam would not transfer left when the character strikes proper, the digicam strikes ahead when the character strikes ahead. You shoot the scene as soon as, and that is it — we do not have to get his line, his line, his line. It strikes in a single course, it reaches the tip, and now we transfer within the subsequent course. As a annoyed narrative filmmaker who hasn’t shot a traditional-coverage scene in years, I used to be like, “That is cool, this restriction truly is liberating, since you solely have to determine the identical factor as soon as.”

Anna Zlokovic, director of “Coochie Coochie Coo”: I feel the onerous half is the suspension of disbelief for the viewers. All the things has to really feel actual. The sound has to really feel prefer it’s truly occurring. The performances must really feel grounded. When you’ve got one thing like an grownup man in a diaper, how do you promote that as practical? It is absurd, however it’s a must to make it really feel prefer it exists on this planet correctly. I discovered that to be difficult — you possibly can lose individuals actually at any second. It simply takes one fuck-up.

Bryan M. Ferguson, director of “Weight loss plan Phantasma”: I agree with Alex — as quickly as you get the blocking down, it is nice. However while you’ve bought so many sensible results occurring at one time, and making an attempt to be sure you’re panning onto it and never fucking up, after which setup takes — you solely get a sure period of time to get all these items proper.

Our set had a giant wall in the best way, and also you could not hear anyone. Alex’s [shoot] appears like nice enjoyable. Ours was very onerous. I solely had three days to do it. It’s liberating, as a result of with discovered footage, you possibly can take sure liberties with it. Even in the event you do fuck it up, it was going to appear like trash anyway, since you’re placing filters on it, otherwise you’re utilizing a rubbish digicam. So it is good and it is unhealthy.

R.H. Norman, co-director of “House Hang-out”: I might say discovering rhythm may be very difficult in the event you’re capturing largely oners. Our method was, “OK, that is edited in digicam. There’s this man, the dad, and he turns the digicam on and off, and people are our cuts.” That entailed lots of pretend oners. However you actually must stay within the second. You actually must see precisely how your shot feels, as a result of what is going on into the digicam, and in sure instances, there isn’t any reducing round it.

We knew we solely had two or three takes per shot, as a result of ours was very bold. We actually tried to give attention to discovering totally different rhythms between the takes, as a result of we did not know what we have been going to get in modifying. And the actual problem with discovered footage is, you are having to cover these cuts on shifting fog, on all kinds of stuff, and you actually by no means know the place these cuts are going to stay, and whether or not they will betray your entire enterprise of making an attempt to really feel like a seamless point-of-view digicam shifting by way of a three-dimensional house.

Zlokovic: You wish to keep away from making an attempt to cover it with glitches as a lot as you possibly can, however it’s a must to generally, as a result of the shit’s onerous.

Norman: Really, she’s proper. That is simple. Simply glitch the shit out of it. [General laughter.]

Paco Plaza, director of “Ut Supra Sic Infra”: For me, probably the most difficult factor is making the viewers imagine the individuals working the digicam would proceed, as an alternative of operating away. That’s additionally a very powerful factor. There are some found-footage fields the place I merely do not imagine the characters would proceed recording.

And I feel the digicam ought to at all times arrive late to no matter’s occurring, as a result of that occurs in actual life. For me, the magic is destroyed if the digicam is already there, anticipating one thing to occur. In case you are right here, recording, and also you hear a noise and pan towards it, that noise is already gone. And I feel that provides a sense of reality that it is crucial to protect.

What is the single shot in your film that you just’re proudest of?

Perry: Our character sitting at a four-monitor deck of modifying software program, with 4 totally different movies taking part in out on the similar time. That is all analog. We shot these movies days earlier. Then the editor handled them, after which we put them on 4 computer systems hooked as much as 4 screens.

That body of the character sitting there with 4 totally different videotapes taking part in — I used to be like, ‘That is the picture I wished out of this mission.’ If it was the one nonetheless I noticed of this film, I might be urgent play proper now: ‘This seems cool!’ But it surely was more durable than it seems, as a result of it is like 4 totally different artwork individuals urgent spacebars on the similar time. It seems so easy, nevertheless it took three days of planning to get to that picture.

Pitt: The witch’s flight for us. That was my favourite scene — selfishly, as a result of I bought to carry out it, but additionally, it was an unattainable shot that we did. It took us hitting all these marks. We did two takes, and that is all we had. And I felt actually happy with us in that second and that was my favourite.

Zlokovic: There’s a shot in mine the place the women run up the steps, they attempt to open one other door, they go right into a playroom, the cheerleader throws blocks, they go to the cheerleader, they see the mommy behind the door, they exit, they go down the steps, they go into the poop room — that was all one shot, we did not do any cuts there. And I am happy with that as a result of it was onerous, nevertheless it was cool to see it come collectively. The primary 5 takes suuuuuucked, after which it began to really feel actual, and that was cool.

Ferguson: Mine was when the little boy explodes on the glass. [General cheers and whoops] It was just like the final, we had the cannon arrange with all the consequences, and we solely had like 5 minutes to get it proper. It did not work. After which we needed to shortly reset it, and we bought the shot on the final a part of the day. However we bought the chortle I hoped for.

Casper Kelly, director of “Enjoyable Measurement”: The shot on the finish of the film, after they’re on the air-duct conveyor belt, and he or she’s getting proposed to, and he or she’s crawling backward. It at all times makes me chortle.

Plaza: For me, when the boy begins vomiting up eyeballs. That was very, very enjoyable to shoot. We have been laughing the entire time. It was very nice. He was very expert together with his tongue — it is not simple to pop 4 eyeballs out of your mouth, however he did. So I am very happy with that.

V/H/S Halloween is streaming on Shudder now.