The First Trailer For V/H/S/85 Is Here!

The V/H/S series quickly made a name for itself with its unflinching chaotic release in 2012. From there, two sequels spawned over the next two years. Unfortunately, the series went dormant for seven years until Shudder brought us V/H/S/94, surprising us with an insane true-to-form reboot. One year later, we were graced with V/H/S/99, leading us to believe a new trend was starting: yearly October releases of a new V/H/S film. 2023 is continuing this new tradition with the upcoming release of V/H/S/85, which will be premiering at Fantastic Fest next month.

V/H/S/85 is an ominous mixtape, blending never-before-seen snuff footage with nightmarish newscasts and disturbing home videos to create a surreal, analog mashup of the forgotten 80s. It wasn’t until 94 that the franchise turned from segments of varying timeframes, and I think it was the best direction the franchise could have taken. Setting the anthology in a specific year didn’t do anything to stifle the creativity of the filmmakers involved. It took the grandiose idea of the franchise and helped create a more coherent throughline. Not that there is anything wrong with how the original three were conceived, but a singular time setting did so much to help the franchise flourish into the behemoth it is today.

The first teaser trailer for V/H/S/85 tells us just what we want and need to know about the film while maintaining an air of mystery. As with all of the movies in the franchise, V/H/S/85 brings us a killer group of filmmakers. For this newest installment we have segments from David Bruckner (V/H/S, The Night House, Hellraiser), Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, The Black Phone), Gigi Saul Guerrero (ABCs of Death 2.5, Bingo Hell, Satanic Hispanics), Natasha Kermani (Imitation Girl, Lucky), and Mike Nelson (The Domestics, Wrong Turn). If that doesn’t sound like one hell of a lineup, I don’t know what does.

You can catch V/H/S/85 at Fantastic Fest in September, but if you can’t make it, don’t fret! V/H/S/85 will be premiering on Shudder on October 6th, 2023. Can’t wait that long? Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. But, in the meantime, you can watch this trailer on a loop like I’ve been doing all afternoon.