Like any anthology, horror or otherwise, the V/H/S series has its hits and misses. Released in 2012, the first V/H/S had a simple concept: an all-star lineup of horror directors (including Joe Swanberg, Ti West, The Black Phone’s Scott Derrickson, and The Guest’s Adam Wingard) making lo-fi, grimy short horror films meant to look like artifacts found on an old VHS tape in a creepy abandoned house. Positive reception for the project set off a boom in themed horror anthologies like The ABCs of Death, Tales of Halloween, and Holidays, which gave up-and-coming horror directors a low-budget proving ground for their work — but also produced a lot of duds among the hits.
Those other anthology series have since died out, but boutique horror streamer Shudder has kept the V/H/S series alive, along with the tradition of some of the component shorts being a lot stronger than others, and only a handful of them really being memorable. V/H/S Halloween is a stronger batch of shorts than many installments in the franchise, though, thanks to a strong unifying theme, a variety of approaches, and some impressively creepy imagery. But one of its component shorts is especially destined to stick with me — it may be my favorite V/H/S short ever.
It isn’t the scariest installment the V/H/S collections have ever produced — it isn’t even the scariest in this particular batch. (I’d give that one to the haunted-house segment “Coochie Coochie Coo.”) But “Fun Size,” from Too Many Cooks and The Fireplace director Casper Kelly, is one of the most creatively weird, out-on-a-limb demented shorts this anthology has ever seen. If you’re looking to sample the latest V/H/S package without downing the whole thing, or you just want some bite-sized horror for a streaming break, start here. (Kelly’s short kicks in at the anthology’s 49:44 mark.)
“Fun Size” opens on a group of adult friends who’ve been drinking at a costume party. The alcohol helps explain why Haley (Jenna Hogan) suddenly decides she just has to have some candy, and why her boyfriend Austin (Jake Ellsworth) and recently engaged friends Josh (Riley Nottingham) and Lauren (Lawson Greyson) agreeably roll with it when she insists they go trick-or-treating as a lark. Almost immediately, they run across a house with a big plastic candy bowl marked “One per person” sitting on the porch. But given that the bowl is full of disturbingly enigmatic off-brand oddities (“What the hell’s a Fligs & Splipps?”), Austin can’t resist grabbing extra candy.
“This does not go well” is an understatement. It’s immediately obvious that ignoring a mysterious message left on mysterious candy is a bad move, especially on Halloween. What follows is startling, gory, and honestly pretty silly. You could argue that there’s a little bit of fairy-tale moral warning in all of this — it’s hard to avoid seeing at least a little finger-waggling in a story where the greediest kid winds up in an oven. But there’s no sense that any of these are meant to be taken seriously, or for scares. “Fun Size” is pure dark funhouse goofery, an extended gag with a sense of violently grotesque play.
This short has a strong sense of wry, self-aware humor, and it’s most obvious in Kelly’s wink-wink take on the found-footage concept: Josh and Lauren dressed up for the Halloween party as “camera operators in a found-footage horror movie,” meaning that they aren’t just carrying recording devices, they also have them strapped all over their bodies. Josh proudly explains to a dubious, grumpy onlooker that this is meant to address the found-footage problem of viewers wondering why victims in these horror movies don’t just put their cameras down when things get bad. But it’s obviously a meta decision as well, to explain where “Fun Size”’s footage comes from.
And then there’s the strain in Josh and Lauren’s relationship. She didn’t want to get engaged, doesn’t want to get married, and doesn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him. Haley is exasperated with Lauren putting off their breakup, especially with Josh chirpily calling Lauren “fiancée” instead of her name, joking about how she’s going to be his “tradwife” soon, and eagerly telling total strangers about the engagement. He’s clearly oblivious to Lauren’s cold feet, which makes it even more grimly hilarious when they end up in mortal peril together, with her still trying to figure out how to break the news.
In spite of the graphic gore, “Fun Size” leans more horror-comedy than horror, with some of Too Many Cooks‘ surreal, oppressive overextension, but without its sense of gradual breakdown and dissolution. If anything, “Fun Size” just keeps ramping up from moment to moment. Once the mayhem really gets underway, the frantic pace and the protagonists’ absolute disbelief at what’s happening to them still gives the short an appealing intensity.
But really, this is a short to watch for the sheer novelty value. Much like you’re not likely to sample the otherworldly candy “Snipp%ers” this Halloween, you’re probably also not going to see anything else this gleefully, confidently weird in your Halloween streaming marathons.
V/H/S Halloween is streaming on Shudder now.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
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