V/H/S Halloween directors say found-footage horror is still ‘hard AF’

The largest exception to that rule is the continued V/H/S sequence, a horror anthology that spawned its own boom in short-form horror and has saved the found-footage dream alive by means of seven themed installments. The eighth within the sequence, 2025’s V/H/S Halloween, options 5 shorts that every one happen round Halloween, strung along with a wrapper story (“Food regimen Phantasma”) that has a brutally disengaged scientist main a sequence of client product checks on a weight loss program cola that kills the individuals sampling it in quite a lot of messy, over-the-top methods.

At V/H/S Halloween’s world premiere on the 2025 version of Austin’s Incredible 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 harder — or in a single case, simpler! — than making a standard horror film.

This interview has been edited for concision and readability.

Polygon: I’ve talked to found-footage horror directors before 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 key challenges in found-footage horror?

Micheline Pitt, co-director of “Dwelling Hang-out”: I feel probably the most difficult factor as an artist is being restricted by your inventive concepts, as a result of all the things must be motivated by the individual holding the digital camera. 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 evening — I agree with that, however I additionally disagree with it vehemently in a really particular method, 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’ve gotten discovered 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 the place the character strikes, that is the protection — the digital camera would not transfer left when the character strikes proper, the digital camera 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 route, it reaches the top, and now we transfer within the subsequent route. As a pissed off 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 pieces has to really feel actual. The sound has to really feel prefer it’s truly taking place. The performances should really feel grounded. In case you have one thing like an grownup man in a diaper, how do you promote that as real looking? It is absurd, however it’s a must to make it really feel prefer it exists on the 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 “Food regimen Phantasma”: I agree with Alex — as quickly as you get the blocking down, it is nice. However once you’ve acquired so many sensible results taking place at one time, and attempting to be sure to’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] seems 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 when 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 digital camera. So it is good and it is dangerous.

R.H. Norman, co-director of “Dwelling Hang-out”: I’d say discovering rhythm may be very difficult when you’re capturing principally oners. Our strategy was, “OK, that is edited in digital camera. There’s this man, the dad, and he turns the digital camera on and off, and people are our cuts.” That entailed a variety of pretend oners. However you actually should stay within the second. You actually should see precisely how your shot feels, as a result of what is going on into the digital camera, and in sure circumstances, there isn’t any chopping round it.

We knew we solely had two or three takes per shot, as a result of ours was very formidable. We actually tried to deal with discovering completely different rhythms between the takes, as a result of we did not know what we have been going to get in enhancing. And the true problem with discovered footage is, you are having to cover these cuts on transferring 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 attempting to really feel like a seamless point-of-view digital camera transferring by means of a three-dimensional house.

Picture: Shudder

Zlokovic: You wish to keep away from attempting 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: Truly, she’s proper. That is straightforward. 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 digital camera would proceed, as an alternative of working away. That’s additionally an important factor. There are some found-footage fields the place I merely do not imagine the characters would proceed recording.

And I feel the digital camera ought to all the time arrive late to no matter’s taking place, as a result of that occurs in actual life. For me, the magic is destroyed if the digital camera is already there, anticipating one thing to occur. If you’re right here, recording, and also you hear a noise and pan towards it, that noise is already gone. And I feel that offers a sense of fact 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 enhancing software program, with 4 completely different movies enjoying 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 displays.

Picture: Shudder

That body of the character sitting there with 4 completely different videotapes enjoying — 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’d be urgent play proper now: ‘This seems cool!’ However it was more durable than it seems, as a result of it is like 4 completely different artwork individuals urgent spacebars on the similar time. It seems so easy, but it surely 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 acquired to carry out it, but in addition, it was an unimaginable 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 pleased 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 pleased with that as a result of it was onerous, but it surely 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 acquired the shot on the final a part of the day. However we acquired the snicker I hoped for.

Picture: Shudder

Casper Kelly, director of “Enjoyable Dimension”: 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 all the time makes me snicker.

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 along with his tongue — it isn’t straightforward to pop 4 eyeballs out of your mouth, however he did. So I am very pleased with that.

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