VHS Halloween Segments Ranked, Analysis & Recap: Pen15 Candy Co.

0:00 Okay, so you've carved off my face. That's rude. And now you're wearing it like a mask, which is also rude. But here's where I draw the line. Don't do that and then also make me wear my face like a mask. That is so disrespectful and we would have to box immediately. Torturing me is one thing. Highly frowned upon and I would rather you not, but don't make matters worse by also being an asshole on top of that. Let me be faceless in peace. I'm Brandon O, this is Terrorific, and we're chopping up 2025's VHS Halloween.

1:06 Welcome back to the place where it's perpetually spooky season. You know, pod growth begins by just having your shit placed in front of an audience. No one can click if they aren't first given the opportunity to do so. And these algorithms prioritize ratings and reviews to determine which shows should be pushed to a wider audience. So I want to give a shout out to a couple of shows who helped me out this week by leaving ratings for Terrific on Spotify or Apple. With Black History Month just barely in the rear view, let me start out by shouting out my fellow black horror podcasters over at You Good Cuh, a horror movie podcast hosted by Marky and Lex.

1:52 They describe themselves as two horror movie junkies who want to give you a fun review of your favorite horror movies. And I am here to tell you that they are funny as hell. Films they've covered include The People Under the Stairs, Blackula, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the classic Halloween. So You Good Cut is the show that slices into the spine of horror cinema, one scream at a time, with new episodes available every Thursday. Next, shout out to Skip or Scream, hosted by sisters Maggie and Cassie.

2:23 Skip or Scream is a scary movie recap podcast that answers the question, is the scream worth the stream? Films they've covered include Sinners, Sissy, The Descent, Bone Lake, and more. So check out Skipper Scream on Spotify or Apple with new episodes releasing every Thursday. And between me and you, you may be hearing me on one of their episodes this coming spring. And finally, shout out to Horror 365, hosted most often by my guys Jimmy and Swift. I was on live with them on their YouTube channel last week talking black history and horror along with Brian from the Killer Point of View podcast and network.

3:03 And he's also the founder of our indie horror collective, The Fear Circuit. So if you don't know, now you know. Tap in with all we've got in the works over there at The Fear Circuit. You can find us on IG at The Fear Circuit and we all have our individual links and our bios and all that good stuff and on YouTube as well. Good shit coming down the pipeline in 2026 from the fear circuit. But now let's get to the reason you are really here. We'll be chopping up the segments from VHS Halloween. Thus far in season three, we have covered seven films and 36 segments across these seven films, grading each and every one on four criteria, story quality, special effects quality, the likelihood of death, and situational fear.

3:50 Taking the average of those four criteria to get one overall score. So our current leaderboard, the bottom three are at number 34, Tape56 from VHS with a score of 2 .38. At number 35, Slumber Party Alien Abduction from VHS2 with a score of 2 .13. And at the bottom, number 36, Vicious Circles from VHS Viral with a score of 2 .0. Those have been our bottom three for a while now, and spoiler alert, no segment from VHS Halloween has received a score that's lower than that, so that will be our final bottom three.

4:30 But our cream of the crop, the top five, is as follows. At number five, we have Storic from VHS Beyond with a score of 4 .25. At number four, we have the double feature from VHS 85, Nowake slash Ambrosia with a score of 4 .63. At number three, we have Live and Let Die from VHS Beyond with a score of 4 .75. At number two, we have Safe Haven from VHS2, also with a score of 4 .75, but it gets the edge over Live and Let Die because of its higher special effects score. And at number one, we have The Subject from VHS94 with a score of 4 .88.

5:10 There are six segments in VHS Halloween, so kicking this off at number six is... Fun Size. Fun Size was written and directed by Casper Kelly, who also wrote the Cheddar Goblin sequence in 2018's Mandy, starring Nicolas Cage, which was a very trippy movie. But the story of Fun Size centers on a group of four friends, Hayley and Austin, and Lauren and Josh. They are both couples, and they leave a Halloween party that they found to be underwhelming, because Hayley really wants some Halloween candy, and since the party was for adults, They only had booze, which to me doesn't sound like a bad trade, but Haley convinces everyone to go trick or treating, probably because she was a little bit drunk.

5:58 The first house they visit belongs to a nice old couple, and the husband at first questions why these grown ass people are trick or treating. Way to judge there, old man, but eventually his wife convinces him to relax. After Josh announces that he and Lauren have recently gotten engaged. And Lauren looks absolutely thrilled about this. And if you can't tell I'm being sarcastic. I am. But after getting their candy they walk away. And Haley complains that she got sour candy. Because sour candy sucks.

6:31 And she throws it into the couple's lawn as they walk away. Which first of all that is hella rude. Second of all sour candy is absolutely disgusting. Elite. Anyway, Lauren and Haley hang back for a second while the boys continue forward and they discuss the fact that Lauren was supposed to break up with Josh, but instead she got engaged to him. Interesting turn of events. And I wonder if this is like some commentary on modern dating and relationships. Like we, some of us feel like we're supposed to get married.

7:06 We grow up being told that. getting a house and the white picket fence and the dog and the kids is like the american dream and all that blah blah blah but you know that's not for everybody and sometimes when you're in the pursuit of that maybe you find a person that's okay you know maybe they're not the person that you really really want to be with but you don't want to start over and go back to ground zero so you end up settling That's probably why the divorce rate is like 50%. But I think the larger problem here is that as a society, we have gotten so used to instant gratification that we don't really want to work for things anymore.

7:42 Life has become about the destination and not about the journey. And I'm here to tell you, marriage is quite the journey. So if you are not down for that, beware. Anyway, I digress. As the friends proceed on their trick -or -treating adventure, they arrive at the next house and they see a candy bowl sitting on a table on the porch with the sign saying to only take one per person. And as they kind of sift through this candy, they notice it's a little bit strange. Nothing is a name brand that they recognize.

8:17 In fact, the names are all weird as fuck. I'm talking things like fligs and splits, snippers, but the E is like a percentage sign. round crunch and and and but the two bookend ands are like ampersands and larry find and finally fernets i can't even pronounce this shit fernet fernet nurse keeps it papa i'll tell you what if someone tried to give me some candy named fernet nerds keeps it papa i'd tell them that keeps that shit away from me but anyway austin opens one up and as he looks at it It looks like a chocolate -covered dick, like, complete with ridge tip and veins and everything.

9:02 Like, this is very phallic. And I know Superbad said the best foods in life are all shaped like penises, but this one is really, really shaped like a penis, to the point that I'm pretty sure it's probably a penis. But Austin takes a big bite and gets that gooey white cream all over his chin. And at this point, I was certain that this was definitely a penis. He goes to take more candy against the science rules. And when a hand reaches up from the bowl and grabs his wrist, he's like, oh, shit, that's weird.

9:41 But he's also like, also, that's kind of cool because it seems like some interactive haunted house. It stops being cool when he can't pull himself free and instead ends up being pulled into the candy bowl. And his boy Josh tries to save him by grabbing onto his ankles and ends up being pulled in there as well. And Haley and Lauren being two intelligent young women see this occur and decide to make the business decision to run away. and they retreat back to the street to call 911, but before Lauren can give the address, the bowl flies at them and sucks them in too.

10:21 They awaken in what appears to be some large industrial building or warehouse or factory or something, and the area that they're in is spacious and empty, except for the candy bowl sitting in the middle under a spotlight. So Austin approaches and the bowl only has the one per person sign sitting in it. And as he holds it up to the rest of the group, some liquid comes dumping down on him from above. And he's like, oh shit, what is going on? And Haley asked him if it burns. And he's like, nah, it's actually sticky.

10:58 And this dude sniffs it. And then this motherfucker takes a taste. of it and says hmm it's sweet i don't know about you but if i got sucked into a candy bowl woke up in some abandoned industrial warehouse factory type shit and had some mystery liquid dumped on me i'm not going to be tasting it personally you know i don't know where they do that at but the people i know that's not how we operate i was not raised that way But after taking his little sample, Austin deduces that this mystery liquid is actually caramel.

11:40 Side note, do you say caramel or do you say caramel? Austin said caramel. I obviously say caramel. I think my wife says she alternates between the two, which I don't understand. Like, pick a side, bro. But I guess there are like some contextual differences. Like, I don't say. caramelized onions i say caramelized onions but if it's just like caramel by itself then it's caramel or like a caramel apple you know hmm the english language makes absolutely no sense i do not envy anyone who has to learn it as a second language that in itself is a superpower so shout out to you but anyway i digress because at this point a creepy ass figure appears And it's wearing a yellow suit jacket, red gloves and pants and shoes and a smiling mascot head type of thing with a crown.

12:37 And when it pops up, it says fun size in this creepy, high pitched voice. Nope. Fuck that. And our Fantastic Four apparently had similar thoughts because they immediately chop out, which I was surprised to see, you know, considering the. ethnic makeup of this particular group you know i would have understood if they had a slight delay to kind of assess the situation first but no they uh got the fuck out of there so respect and as they're running away they notice blood streaks on the walls pretty awkward and along the way they also find a locked door and it's key But before they can try the key in the lock, Austin gets captured by the Candy King and the gang finds him strapped to a conveyor belt in his skimpies.

13:29 Lauren starts pulling on levers on the machine, thinking that would release Austin for some strange reason. I have no idea what the thought process was here. But anyway, unsurprisingly to me at least, the machine then starts up. And Bro is yelling at them to take the key that he's holding in his hand and they... don't. So once he gets pulled into the machine, he gets chopped up and sawed up as the gang watches helplessly and his brain, tongue, heart, other body parts get cannedified. And when I say other body parts, I of course am referring to his dick and balls.

14:12 So we see a dick... And its associated balls come rolling down this conveyor belt. And an axe or a cleaver comes down and removes the balls or separates the balls from the base of the penis. And this penis then gets covered in chocolate and packaged as some candy. So yes, that bite that Austin took earlier in this segment with that gooey. White center was indeed someone's penis. But as the gang is still processing this packaged penis, the candy king shows up with his sidekick now. And Josh grabs an axe and chops his hand off, which then starts spewing candy until the hand regrows.

15:04 And Haley then makes the most obvious statement of all fucking time when she says. It's not human. Bruh. No shit. What exactly gave it away? Was it when you got pulled into this candy bowl? Was it when your boyfriend magically ended up being stripped down to his underwear and placed on a conveyor belt and chopped into pieces as you watched his dick be wrapped in a candy wrapper? Now would probably be a good time to get the fuck out of there so they start unwrapping the Austin candy and they find the package containing his severed hand which is still holding the key and they run off towards the locked door and as they cross the threshold of another door the sidekick throws some gumballs or something on the ground that causes Haley to slip and fall.

15:58 Which results in her being captured and dragged off screaming into the darkness. And Lauren, because that's her BFF, she's like, no, Haley. But Josh is like, uh, she's gone. Let's just get the fuck out of here. But Lauren is like, no, I have to save my friend. And Josh at that moment was like, fuck. He has no choice but to chase after his fiance as she chases after her friend. And they end up finding Haley standing at a table with a tube up her butt. And it pumps candy inside of her until that candy explodes out from her face.

16:39 Real nasty work. But somehow she's not dead. And she still manages to walk over to the conveyor belt and lay down on it. And she gets chopped up and candified herself. Now at this point Josh and Lauren are like okay let's really get the fuck out of here so they go back to the door. They manage to unlock it only to reveal a brick wall with the plaque on it saying one per person. Got him. Next to the door is an air vent so they use the axe to pry off the grate and climb inside but Lauren notices that the bottom is a conveyor belt which is pretty awkward.

17:21 And as things start up and the saw at the end of the little shaft or whatever begins spinning, they try to go back. But the candy king and his sidekick are waiting behind him and they close the opening back up again. And as they're about to die, Josh is like, man, I wish we could have gotten married. But hey, wait, I have an idea. And he starts to act like the efficient and tries to be like. lauren do you take me to be your lawfully wedded husband and lauren says i do not savage bro and josh is like uh what and he gets chopped up by the saw and turned into candy like damn bro that is cold blooded my dude is three seconds away from death and she just still had to keep it a bug like nah I can't lie to you, bro.

18:17 I'm not about it. You know, I'm not trying to give you that final comfort as you head into your eternal rest. Fuck you. This engagement is over. But Lauren manages to escape through another grate off to the side and ends up outside the building near its parking lot. And the first thing she does when she's out in this fresh air is try. and fail to remove her engagement ring instead of doing something else such as I don't know maybe running away but the candy king pops up with his fun size and crushes her head the footage then cuts to a mom trick -or -treating with her two kids and the son takes a bite of candy and says there's something metal in this and the mom takes a look at it and sees that it's Lauren's left ring finger the kid crunched into her engagement ring yikes but the sun also took two candies from the bowl and then it comes flying at them as the segment ends wow for story i gave fun size a three and i might be reading too much into this but i think there was like a central theme of like women doing what makes them happy no matter what the cost is like Lauren you know rejecting that fake ass marriage or whatever the fuck that was at the end even though dude was about to die and they weren't really gonna get married she stood in her truth I respect that and then with Haley at the very beginning she had everybody leave the party because she wanted to go get some Halloween candy and they all We're like, all right, fine.

20:00 I think Lauren was in the backseat saying, you know, guys, if we don't just say yes to her now, she won't let it go. So let's just humor her or whatever. So both of these women knew what they wanted or didn't want, and they stood on business. So, yeah, I can't be mad about that. But I wish there would have been a little bit more. crumbs or whatever that can kind of fill in some of the blanks like i didn't understand if this was like a parallel or pocket dimension that they got pulled into in the candy dish or if it was like hell or some kind of other demonic realm like that wasn't really made clear to me you know um again as i said before i don't necessarily need things to be spelled out or further to be just like exposition out the ass but just give me enough to put the pieces together you know leave some legos on the ground for me to assemble for special effects i went with the rating of a four there were some cool moments here like when they first disappeared into the bowl it looks like everything beneath the table was like empty so like this magic disappearing act uh austin with the candy machine when he's in there his body parts obviously including his dick and balls getting chopped up and candified that was all done with practical effects looked really cool the candy face explosion looked like a mix of practical and cgi like the candy itself looked like cgi which was interesting but like the face and like the side and the skull edges or whatever that looked like it was practically done which i would have thought the two would have been

21:36 flipped situational fear i went with the score of a four being pulled into some unknown dimension or hellish realm whatever and being pursued by a smiling giggling candy mascot and turned into candy definitely seems pretty terrifying but this crew was pretty chill about it so yeah I uh you know they I guess they're made of sterner stuff so based on how they were reacting I had to lower it to a to a four and for likelihood of death I went with a rating of a one because this was holy avoidable like the signs that are right there one per person just don't be greedy don't be an asshole especially after you take a bite of some gooey candy dick like do you really expect the other candy to be any better like one dick's not enough how many dicks do you need bro so yeah better choices be a better person you could have not been turned into candy so likelihood of death one Which brings the overall score for Fun Size to a 3 .0.

22:53 Coming in at the number 5 spot for best segments in VHS Halloween is... Ut Supra Sic Infra. This segment was directed by Paco Plaza who also co -wrote it alongside Alberto Marini. And Paco Plaza is the Spanish filmmaker behind the Wreck series with Marini serving as executive producer. The first wreck is arguably one of the greatest found footage joints ever. And Plaza also directed 2017's Veronica. And bro, let me tell you about Veronica. Fuck Netflix for lying about that shit. I remember the promo for that saying it was the scariest movie ever known to mankind.

23:38 They hyped this shit up so fucking... And it was so underwhelming, bro. But hey, that is a masterclass in marketing, I guess. Just say some shit. Doesn't have to be true. But Oots Supra Sick Infra kicks off pretty eerily with some crime scene photos featuring dead folks missing their eyeballs. Yikes. Clone survivor Enric is being interrogated by the police, and they inform him that all the corpses from these crime scene photos have had their bones fractured and crushed, as well as their eyes gouged out, obviously, but the eyes weren't found on scene.

24:22 Very spooky. And Enric says that he did it, but the cops know it's impossible for him to have done all of that, at least not alone. So what exactly happened? Well, the previous night, Enric and his friends were all at a Halloween party until one of them, Vicky, suggested they leave to go check out an abandoned mansion where a woman named Roberta Marconi lived. And she was a medium who organized seances for Madrid's elite. Once there, they entered a specific room and things went wrong. Even their phones stopped recording once they entered.

24:59 So now that Enric is being interrogated by the police, they want to return to this house. with Enric and his lawyer in order to reconstruct the previous night's events. The segment alternates between present day footage and cell phone footage from Halloween night when the friends were there. And they park and follow Vicky because she knew a hidden tunnel to get inside. So once they go through this tunnel, Vicky explains that on Halloween, there's a bridge between worlds where the living and dead can walk among one another.

25:30 And the other friends don't believe any of that shit. They're just along for vibes, I guess. And Vicky really fucked them on that one and set them up to fail. And die, apparently. But the cops reach the door to the room in the present day, and Enric freaks out, trying to run away, and he's like falling all over himself, remembering, you know, pieces or fragments of what took place in here. and dog these motherfuckers should have taken the hint cutting back to the cell phone footage the friends go through the door which leads to a staircase which they ascend until they end up in a large room with a very high ceiling and strange images and latin writing are on the wooden walls there's also a rotary phone sitting on a table right in the middle of this room Someone goes to touch it and Vicky says to leave it alone because it wasn't there when she first discovered this room a while back.

26:30 One of her co -workers brought her up there to smash because nothing gets people horny quite like fucking in an abandoned mansion that once belonged to someone who speaks to dead people. But all right. Unsurprisingly, things got too creepy and they left. But Vicky really, really wants to leave at this point because she knows something here is funky, but everyone else still thinks it's all a big joke. Like, oh, look, it's a cursed phone. Let's pick it up. And they're just like, ha ha ha ha. You know, nothing to be afraid of.

27:06 And Vicky is trying unsuccessfully to tell everyone that, hey, she heard Roberta Marconi would use a phone to speak with the dead. Then Enric notices a phrase on the wall that's been written upside down, but he manages to read it. It says ut supra sic infra, which is Latin for as above, so below. And Enric's like, oh, wow, spooky. And he starts dicking around and chanting the phrase like three times. And at that point, the phone begins to ring, bro. Hell nah, because this shit is not plugged into anything.

27:43 It's just sitting. on a table or on a stand in the middle of the room. That, my friend, is what we refer to as big nope energy. And then it cuts back to the present day where the cops are like, hey, forensic experts told us that it's impossible for this phone to ring because it isn't connected to anything. And so they brought their own to recreate it in the present day as well. And the cops tell Enric he's not remembering things correctly, that it's all in his head. But as we cut back to the flashback, Enric was the one to pick up the phone when it rang.

28:16 And Bro says he hears a voice. And then he starts convulsing as the door to the room slams shut. And the footage cuts out. But right before it does, you can see that while everyone is looking at Enric, their eyes start moving upward. Like Bro has got to be levitating. And back in the present day, Enric starts to say that his stomach hurts a little bit. Hmm. Sounds like foreshadowing to me. And the cops make him repeat the Oodsupristic infraphraze, says it three times again, and then their impossible -to -ring phone begins to ring.

28:53 Some brave soul, and I use brave very, very loosely, someone goes and answers the phone, and then Enric starts convulsing again. And this dude begins to puke up. Eyeballs, bro! And them shits were whole too. That man did not take a single chew. Just swallowed them shits. So now we know what happened to Enric's friend's eyeballs. They have been chilling in his stomach, which hopefully made his tummy feel better. No more tummy aches now that I threw up my friend's eyeballs. But apparently, Enric also has telekinetic powers because he makes all the cops begin to ascend towards the ceiling.

29:38 And Enric walks out of the door on the ground and somehow emerges from another door up by the ceiling. And it looks like he's walking on the ceiling while everyone else is unable to move on the quote unquote ground. And he goes one by one and plucks out everyone's eyeballs while they're still alive. And as they squirm and suffer and teeter on the brink of death, they all plummet to the ground. And definitely are dead at that point. End of segment. For story, I gave Ootsupra's sick infra a rating of a 3.

30:16 It was okay. I just wanted to see a little bit more action. I like my action, you know? And I understand why they didn't feel a need to show, like, Vicky and the rest of Enric's friends being killed. Because it's the exact same thing that happened to the cops in the present day. But I guess I wanted to see like more reasoning for what transpired. Like what's the meaning behind the eyeball plucking? Maybe there's some lore that I'm just not familiar with. And that is definitely highly possible and probably most likely.

30:54 But for those of us like me who maybe aren't so well versed in, you know, this background, a little bit of exposition in some fashion. Would have been a little bit more useful. In my opinion. For special effects. I gave a rating of a 3 as well. The missing eyes on the corpses. The eyeball puking. And the eyeball plucking. All of those looked pretty cool. When they were done. And when they were on screen. But they were just very brief. So overall there wasn't a lot of special effects. Utilized in this segment.

31:29 As far as like. Gore goes and what not. So situational fear, I went with the rating of a four. People, I think, were definitely pretty afraid right there at the end. But for so much of their time in this situation, I think they were just going off of vibes. Like the party friends were having a ball, you know, thinking it was all fake and just doing some cool stuff on Halloween. And the cops were just doing their job. I don't think either party was very afraid right up until the point that Enric began convulsing and they began levitating and getting their eyeballs fucked out.

32:09 At that point, yes. Hella fearful, but that was relatively brief overall. So four seems fitting. And for likelihood of death, I went with a rating of a four as well. For the party friends, I mean... Obviously, they could have just like not shown up to the house, but they thought it was all fun and games and good vibes. So it's probably unlikely that they wouldn't go. And as far as answering the phone goes, Enric, I mean, he fucked it up for everybody for sure. But again, it is Halloween. Maybe you're thinking this is some kind of interactive type of haunted house deal.

32:51 And, you know, Vicky is really pulled out all the stops to get y 'all scared. So I understand a little bit the rationale behind, you know, picking up that phone. Me personally, I wouldn't have done it. You know, I mean, I wouldn't have been there to begin with. But if you're into those kind of vibes and it is Halloween, you know, I understand. As far as the cops go, they were on the clock. I mean, they couldn't really say no. It's like this is what your boss is telling you to do. Do this or get fired and not have a job anymore.

33:23 Like they were kind of fucked on from that front. And I mean, who would expect that if you brought a phone with you, that it would ring with no connection? So yeah, I mean, they were going to be in that situation regardless. So their likelihood of death, kind of hard to avoid it at that point. So yeah, that brings the overall score for Ootsupra Sig Infra to a 3 .5. Don't forget to subscribe to Terrorific on whatever platform you're listening on. And if you wouldn't mind dropping me a rating on Spotify or Apple, preferably five stars, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

34:03 I would greatly appreciate that. That helps the show grow and get exposed to a wider audience so we can all talk about penis candy. Okay, at number four, we have Diet Phantasma. This segment serves as the frame narrative for VHS Halloween, and it was written and directed by Brian M. Ferguson, whose credits also include directing three episodes of the 2024 TV series Bloody Bites, but he's primarily been involved with directing bands' music videos. The story of Die Phantasma centers on a company known as the Octagon Company, and it is trial testing a new soda infused with the essence of some mysterious...

34:48 Green, swirling, fog substance type of shit. And the COO slash man at the helm of this project is named Blaine Rothschild. And they've been at these trials for a while because the first test subject we see is number 37. He takes a sip from the soda and almost immediately starts seizing. He has black fluid leaking out of his eyes, nose, and mouth, and he is screaming for help. The soda can then sprouts tentacles and lashes onto his head. And you can really see the alien influence here. You know, that ode to alien because it's hugging his face and it kills him.

35:31 Next, subjects 38 and 39 come up and they are a little more wary. 38 asks if the can is nuclear and 39 just asks if it's toxic. The Rothschild says, nah, it's not nuclear. and then like three seconds after he says this uh 38's can starts spewing acid or some shit in his face and it turns it all swollen and bloated like a corpse that's been in the water and 38 reaches out to 39 for help and when she takes his hands in hers his skin slides off what the fuck 39's can then slides across the table and shoots its tab at her which she swallows, and before she chokes on it, it tears itself out of her neck, slicing open her carotid artery, and I had to look it up to see which one it was, carotid artery or the jugular vein, but this blood was bright red, and had it been coming from the jugular, it would have been more of a reddish purple, so shout out to anatomy, but RIP Subject 39.

36:42 But Rothschild will not be deterred. We've come too far to stop now. So subject 40 then takes a sip and says that the soda smells like shit, but tastes pretty good. Now, me personally, me personally, if I if I'm smelling something and my description is that it smells like shit, you can best believe I will not. then be taking a sip of this shit -smelling soda. Like, I'm just done, okay? I'm no longer going to participate in this trial. Keep your $5 or whatever the fuck you're paying and kick rocks, alright?

37:23 Because if it smells like shit, odds are it might taste like shit. And things that smell like shit also may be comprised of shit. And I'm not trying to drink a shit soda, but Subject 40 apparently is built a little bit differently. Rothschild is encouraged thinking that they finally got the formula right because 40 is chillin she seems okay and then he asked her to finish the whole can as she reaches for the can however her bones snap and she pukes up gallons of that same black liquid from before and then she's possessed and possessed 40 can see through this one -way glass or this observation mirror and she begins smashing her head against it.

38:12 Rothschild asks if he can get into the room with him and his number two, Linda, says no, everything is reinforced with some strong ass material. They then use the air duct to suck out whatever possessed Forty and then as she lays there with her face all broken in and restored to her normal self asking for help, they offer that help. in the form of a flamethrower and they toast her while she is still alive holy moly but wait there's more next up is subject 41 a little boy who chugs his whole can and thinks it's delicious he even asked for another one and as an innocent child there's no way anything bad can happen to him right Well, the research team says they significantly scaled back the formula for a smaller test subject.

39:09 So yeah, they bring 41 another can. Let's see what happens. And as soon as he pops the tab, he explodes off screen because he's a kid. But the observation mirror gets sprayed with all of his blood. R .I .P. 41. At least he got to have a delicious soda. He didn't say it smelled like shit. well hopefully he wouldn't say shit he's a kid he didn't say it smelled like poop so maybe they got a little fruity flavor for him as well that he got to enjoy before he um detonated but now it's time to go big or go home so we have six subjects lined up at once subjects 42 through 47 they're all seated together and rothschild tells them that to remember to remain seated at all times No matter what happens.

39:59 How ominous is that? But Linda, whose coffee he just threw his cigarette into, by the way, cautions him that, hey, having so many test subjects at one time is going to strain their equipment. But he says he's impatient because it took almost five hours to clean subject 41 off the walls. This fucking guy. But the subjects then pop their tabs open and the camera in the room with them is immediately engulfed in flames as sounds of what the subtitles literally described as unearthly roaring and snarling echo throughout the room.

40:39 Subject 42 Soda Can grabs her hair and rips it out of her scalp. Another subject's can grabs his tongue and rips that shit out. And another subject gets possessed and gouges out the eyes of the subject next to him. Then that possessed subject runs up to another subject who has been pounding on the door trying to escape, grabs and spins her around and spews that black shit all in her face as well. What the fuck? And Rothschild is like, what the fuck? What is happening here? And Linda tells him again, the equipment was only designed to handle three subjects at once.

41:21 But Rothschild presses the big red button to extract all the essence. But signs of life remain in the room in one subject. And it's the little girl in the group, subject 47. She's definitely possessed. Her eyes are like all white and milky and shit. But she's also chill, bro. So they deem the formula a success. this point the dead folks get up and they get repossessed and are about to break into the observation room after the protections have failed and while everyone is panicking rothschild sits down lights a cigarette and tells them to package and ship the soda and here it's heavily implied that all the researchers get killed r .i .p And after VHS Halloween ends, we get a final mid -credits scene showing that Subject 47 is in an ad for Diet Phantasma where it's revealed that the secret ingredient is poltergeist extract.

42:23 It's spooktacular and only one single calorie. Wow. And 47 takes a sip, saying in a possessed voice, It's scary how good it tastes. And I bet that shit flew off the shelves. So as far as story goes, I gave Diaphantasma a 4. This was my favorite frame narrative in the entire franchise. I don't think I've ever rated a frame narrative story higher than the story of other segments. I think there's been frame narratives that weren't. The worst segment in their respective film. But that was driven by other factors.

43:06 So this was a first for me. I really enjoyed this one. It was a lot of fun. It was wild. It was original. And I think my issues with other frame narratives. Stem from like the pacing. Being interspersed with these other segments. I felt like made them feel. Like really choppy. But with this one. With it's premise. Like those breaks with the other segments. That could be attributed to like the researchers, you know, refining their formula. There's ways to fill in those blanks without feeling like part of the story is missing.

43:39 And I really appreciated that. And on top of all that, the special effects were great. So along those lines, I gave special effects a rating of a four. The soda can tentacles and the leaky orifices, the bloated face of 38 and the skin sliding off his hands. 39's blood spray on the glass looked a little bit watery and a little unrealistic but still i appreciate these practical effects 40's face getting all fucked up after bashing her head against the glass and the scalp ripping the tongue ripping all these things i think looked overall really strong for situational fear i went with the rating of a 2 .5 there was a lot of mixed levels of fear here i think so there are certain situations where i think people were like oh shit this is insane i'm shit in my pants you know if they're being chased by the possessed person and all that shit their tongues being ripped out their scalps being ripped out etc etc however there were also people who got possessed instantaneously people who exploded instantaneously Dr. Rothschild was sitting there smoking a cigarette as these possessed corpses were beamed down the window about to kill him.

44:59 So all these different extremes and all that, I think we just average it together and go with that 2 .5. Likelihood of death, I went with the 3 .5. I mean, the simplest solution would be not to drink something that smells like shit. That's pretty avoidable. um in 47 you know she she managed to survive i think a lot of the researchers once you know they saw that people were exploding and shit they clearly understood that they were dealing with a very volatile substance and so i think efforts could have been made to extricate themselves from that situation but similar to like the cops in the last segment It is their job, so I understand sticking around.

45:51 What choice do you have? But yeah, overall, I think there was enough avenues to avoid death that it's not going to be the full five, but also enough avenues that were kind of hard to avoid. So 3 .5 seems pretty fitting. So that brings the overall score for Die Phantasma to a 3 .5, which is tied with Ut Supra Sic Infra, but Die Phantasma gets the edge on story rating. At the number three spot for best segments in VHS Halloween is Coochie Coochie Coo. This segment was written and directed by Anna Zlokovic, whose directorial credits also include 2023's appendage.

46:38 The story centers around two high school BFFs, Lacey and Kaylee, who are trick -or -treating one last time before college separates them. Kaylee is going off to the Ivy League to attend Yale while Lacey is staying behind at the local community college, which there is nothing wrong with that Lacey, but she was feeling some kind of way about it. Anyway... They're hotboxing in the car when some kids come knocking on the window saying the mommy's gonna get you. And bro, these kids are savages. They call Lacey an ugly old lady and a bitch face.

47:14 Like, where are the kids learning this shit? But when Lacey rolls the window back up, there's a big ass clawed handprint on the glass. And it's definitely not from the kids, but they don't notice that they have apparently been marked by some supernatural entity. But Lacey and Kaylee proceed to act like a couple of assholes while they go around trick or treating. So they're dressed as babies and they're taking too much candy from houses. They're snatching candy out of kids hands. twerking on hollering decorations.

47:49 Like I said, assholes. But along the way, they overhear a couple of moms talking about how they won't let their kids trick or treat alone after another high school girl went missing last year who was dressed as a cheerleader. Sounds like foreshadowing to me. While Lacey and Kaylee are sitting in the park eating their candy that they have stolen from children they notice a house nearby that they're surprised they somehow didn't see before. Probably because it wasn't there before but they would have noticed that had they not been stealing from children.

48:25 And as they approach this house they see a little girl with her family walk on by without even taking a look at it. It's almost as if they didn't even see it and Kaylee is like whoa is that little girl she didn't want any candy uh yeah looks like that's a red flag buddy but they keep on going they knock and they ring the bell a few times but no one answers and when they start walking away the door creaks open slowly and ominously and an arm extends from the shadows holding a basket of candy and says coochie coochie coo in a sing -songy voice before retreating back into the darkness and i don't think red flags get any redder than that but lacy thinks it's a haunted house setup and she wants to go inside and check it out and kaylee's like nah i'm good on that but because kaylee is leaving lacy behind as she goes to yale she's feeling some kind of way and she subconsciously is probably like hey this is our friendship test i'm going to come in here are you going to leave me aka go off to college or are you going to follow me in here and show me that you still care and i'm sure kaylee picked up on all this subtext because she is a good friend and follows her in there First thing Kaylee says when she walks in is that it smells like a corpse inside.

49:57 And that, my friends, is known as the cue to get the fuck out of there. But it is ignored by our dynamic duo here. And they turn around to see a creepy woman with a candy basket standing in the doorway. And they accidentally knock it out of her hand. And what appears to be a live fetus. spills out onto the floor and kicks around and shit like bro what the fuck the door then closes trapping them inside in darkness and they're starting to get a little bit scared but still thinking that maybe this is some interactive haunted house experience but there's some weird shit in the house there's like a cage that looked like someone or something sleeps in there are large milky footprints on the ground and everything is just dank and dirty as hell and they find their way back to where they entered the house originally but now the door has mysteriously disappeared the house has appeared to rearrange itself but the creepy woman peeks at them from around the corner before creepily slinking away and now shit is no longer funny The girls walk through the house and they see like letter balloons set up spelling it's a girl like things have been set up for a baby shower.

51:26 However, the cake has maggots all over it. Sounds delicious. And in this room on the mantle is a very old and unsettling photo of a pregnant woman who was crying, like majorly crying. Like it probably would have sounded like she was wailing based on how pained her face looked. Also on one of the walls, someone has written the phrase, he made me mommy. And it is either dried blood or dried shit. Either one is not ideal. Lacey and Kaylee then see and hear someone scurrying around in the shadows and a man in a diaper pulls up on him and he starts chewing on the doorframe.

52:13 On top of all this, his face doesn't look quite right. He has like some abnormal baby slash chipmunk cheeks. And they keep making their way through the house, leaving this guy behind to do his wall chewing or doorframe chewing. And they find what appears to be a breast pump sitting on a table, but it looks wrong. It has like six suction cups on it. And then they come upon a girl who is restrained in a chair hooked up to a machine that appears to be forcing her to drink milk. And while Lacey and Kaylee look for a way to help this girl, that mysterious creepy woman from before pops back up and she flashes.

52:59 Six leaking mommy milkers, calcium cannons, dairy danglers. And this is apparently the mommy that the girls were warned about by those rude ass little kids from before. So they run away from all those titties and they head upstairs, which why? This is the one way you don't want to go. And they find that cheerleader girl who went missing last year and her face is all babyfied as well with those big ass chipmunk cheeks. And after barricading themselves in a room to escape the mommy, they find a photo showing that the mommy hung herself while pregnant.

53:35 And words appear out of thin air on the back of the photo saying, quote, I died to be free. And I think this is implying one of two things. I'm not sure which one is accurate. So I think either A, this is saying that the mommy's pregnancy was somehow forced. Perhaps through means of sexual assault or B, that she just doesn't feel like she'll be a good mom and doesn't want to be a mom and feels like she has no other way to avoid that fate other than taking herself out. Either way, that is some heavy stuff.

54:14 And if you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self -harm, you do not have to suffer in silence. You are not alone. Please call or text 988 ASAP to speak with somebody. But the mommy ends up busting through the barricade the girls have set up and she bear hugs Lacey so hard that she breaks her ribs. Pretty awkward. But Lacey and Kaylee manage to escape and they end up hiding out and as they do, a lullaby begins playing that puts Lacey to sleep. The mommy then finds them and drags Lacey away.

54:51 Kaylee follows the milk trail left behind from those massive mammaries down to the basement where there are decorations hung that say, Welcome babies, Lacey and Kaylee. Fuck that, bro. There's also a crib down there with another live fetus and Kaylee finds the mommy sitting in a rocking chair, singing a lullaby to Lacey who has now also been babyfied along with the cheerleader. the man baby, and the one that was being forced to drink the breast milk. This alibi also makes Kaylee sleepy too, and she cuddles up to the mommy as the segment ends.

55:34 For its story, I gave Coochie Coochie Coo a rating of a 4. It seemed like it was delivering two messages. One, pro -choice, like for the mother, being pregnant and hanging herself, feeling like that was the only way to escape this fate of bringing a child into the world under some set of circumstances, I feel like that was kind of an extreme metaphorical representation of how some women can feel when their options for their reproductive rights are limited or outright restricted and banned in certain areas.

56:12 But the fact that the mother despite making this choice still clearly feels some sort of maternal instinct by taking on these five other people it's like the choice that she made wasn't about the child itself it was about the situation at that time so just because a woman may not think that the current time is right for her to be a mother Doesn't mean that she doesn't ever want to be a mother or that situations or circumstances can't change down the line. And then the second message that I interpreted was just the fear of growing up from the girl's point of view.

56:54 So going off to college, of course, is a very scary time for a lot of people. You're leaving the nest, you're leaving your friends, or you might feel like your friends are leaving you. So all these emotions swirling around about the unknown. could you know make someone feel like they want to just be held by their mommy a little bit for special effects i went with the rating of a four everything appeared to be practically done everything looked creepy and just kind of like gross and dirty baby five people looked really really creepy the mommy of course she looked wild with that creature design the the prosthetic six breasts and stuff just all really unsettling For situational fear, I went with the rating of a 5.

57:41 I mean, first of all, you're in like some ghost house that nobody else can see. Then the door gets shut behind you and disappears. You have no way out. You're seeing some random woman with a bowl of candy blurring you and saying coochie coochie coo in a creepy ass voice. You see a man, baby, and a diaper. You see a person in a like a straight jacket being fed breast milk and a six tittied woman coming at you and singing to you and shit. Yeah, bro, like that is a lot of moments worthy of shitting one's pants, in my opinion.

58:20 And finally, for likelihood of death, I went with the rating of a one because the mommy wasn't trying to kill anybody. She just wanted to have her babies with her for eternity or whatever. Yeah, she made no attempts to take anybody out. And plus, all this could have been avoided anyway had Lacey not walked inside of some random mystery house dark -ass doorway with a hand, like a disembodied hand with a candy bowl saying coochie -coochie -coo. I mean, that is Halloween 101. Do not enter strange houses.

58:58 I mean, shit, that's life 101 if we're being honest. But this segment spiritually feels like it could be related to Barbarian, the other half of Barbarian, where Barbarian focused on the physical fallout of navigating society as a woman and those tangible impacts, whether it's misogyny, sexism, or physical violence. I feel like Coochie Coochie Coo kind of looks at it. like the other side of the coin from the emotional vantage point, how you're navigating those feelings of motherhood and whatnot.

59:34 But that brings the overall rating for Coochie Coochie Coo to a 3 .5 with its situational fear rating, giving it the tiebreaker over Diet Phantasma. Coming in at the number two spot for best segments in VHS Halloween is Home Haunt. This segment was written and directed by Micheline Pitt Norman and R .H. Norman, whose works also include the 2021 short Grummy. The story of Home Haunt centers on a family consisting of husband Keith, wife Nancy, and son Zach, who has an annual tradition of setting up an elaborate haunted house in their backyard every Halloween, and it's named Dr. Mortis' House of Horrors.

1:00:17 Now, Zach has served as the assistant, igor to his dad dr mortis but now he's a moody teen and doesn't want to do it anymore he gets trolled about it at school and thinks it's the reason why he can't pull chicks and his dad is like oh you think that's the reason why savage but zach's like hey you're being a dick keith And he's done with all the bullshit. And he doesn't want to end up like him when he's older. Like, oof, that boy took the knife, punched it in deep, and twisted that shit. Well, that's wild, though.

1:00:51 My man is letting his son talk to him like that. And Nancy was sitting there, too, and letting him talk to her husband like that. If that was me in either one of those seats, I'd be like, what'd you say? nah son there's gonna be some consequences like you're gonna lose your keys or whatever you know what i mean you're trying to pick up chicks like hell no bro you're not going to the school dance like you are gonna be grounded mister but uh keith's just like ah whatever he's being a moody kid and nancy's like i'll go talk to him and work my magic and she manages to convince zach to play igor one last time to humor his daddy so the father and son ride off to the local thrift store to go get wardrobe and props and stuff keith finds a back room that's been roped off by a staff only sign but ignoring signs seems to be the theme of this movie so he moves it out of the way and heads in He finds an old chest with the record inside titled Halloween Horrors and being the great role model that he is, he steals it.

1:02:05 So the shit even comes with a warning though. It says, listener, beware. He who invokes the song of Samhain on All Hallows Eve lets loose the riders of hell with a symphony of the damned. And Keith thinks this will be the perfect theme for the haunt, Symphony of the Damned. well halloween night arrives and the haunt has a nice little line going including zach's little crush and a neighbor who shows up just for the purpose literally solely for the purpose of telling keith that everything looks like bro that is some real commitment to hating i hope when i reach my angry old man phase my curmudgeon phase i hope that i can hate with the same amount of commitment that this guy right here rich demonstrated inside the hall they have a nice spooky setup with the gramophone in the middle of the room and after keith gives his spiel or i'm sorry after dr mortis gives his spiel they put on the halloween horrors record to commence the symphony of the damned lights start flickering objects fly off shelves nancy is looking real nervous but keith is trying to play it cool as if this is all part of the act and he's trying to stay in character telling the spirits to hear their song and open wide the gates of hell well buddy be careful what you wish for because they proceed into the next part of the haunt and the door slams shut behind them unable to be open and nancy's like what the fuck keith this is a fake door why can't we open it and he's like um not quite sure there

1:03:47 dear and hating ass rich says that a fake ghost looks like shit because my man had one job and he was committed to accomplishing it well keith is like hey man that one's not mine bro and this fake ghost it's like a little sheet descends over rich and him all the way up resulting in spraying a fountain of blood all over his wife and now has hit the fan the decorations come to life as more sheet ghosts start flying around and killing folks ripping them into pieces while the survivors enter the crypt portion of the haunt and actual corpses rise out of the tombs in there and start tearing people up and to this point vhs halloween has demonstrated that kids are not safe and it really drives that point home here where a little boy wearing a bumblebee costume gets jumped on by these corpses and they rip this man into pieces god damn boy if keith survives this shit the lawsuits he faces are going to be insane And unfortunately, one of the victims is Zach's little crush.

1:05:03 He gets like her chin torn off. Really nasty work. And her friend loses her shit and just runs off, leaving her little sister behind, bro. But here's the catch. She runs into the torture chamber. The survivors follow her and she's attached to an electric chair while a big ass hooded executioner is in there with an axe. Hayden asks Rich's wife catches an axe above the knee and when she's crawling around on the ground the executioner comes up and literally splits her head open like a watermelon. The practical effects here bro went insane.

1:05:43 But then Nancy just starts going ham. Keith grabs the executioner from behind to pull him away from his pursuit of Zach and when he throws Keith off him. His mask gets pulled off and he's distracted by his exposed and busted ass face so Lindsay capitalizes on this opportunity, grabs the axe that's on the ground and chops him in the gut. Then she pulls the axe out resulting in some of his guts spilling out, hits him in the head with it and one more time for good measure to decapitate him. But the only way out of this haunt is to make it through all the rooms.

1:06:23 They can only go forward. So as they approach the last one, Zach is afraid to enter. But his dad reassures him that he'll keep him safe. And Zach calls him dad for the first time all segment. Bro, get the fuck out of here. So he's Keith when you think you're hot shit. But dad, when you start shitting your pants, that's straight pussy old behavior, bro. But as his parents try to get Zack to be a brave big boy, they realize that the little sister who was abandoned by the friend who got fried in the electric chair has walked over to the final room all alone like a big dummy.

1:07:00 And when they follow her in there, they see her inside of a witch's cauldron getting her finger chewed off as she boils. Pretty awkward. and apparently Zach learned how to fight from his daddy and not his mom because the witch knocks him down on the ground and starts clawing his face up but MVP Nancy says fuck all of that and she grabs the witch by the hair and seemingly drowns her in the boiling cauldron bro Nancy is carrying these boys right now and Keith got knocked out by the way This boy is slacking hard.

1:07:42 But the family makes it out and escapes the haunt. But unfortunately, so does the witch. She's not dead after all. She comes flying out on her broomstick and grabs the camera out of Zach's hand as she zooms by. And while she's flying down the street, she is snatching up trick -or -treaters, grabs one, and tears their head off. And she impales another one with her broomstick and tears his guts out as she flies around the sky with him still lodged on the tip of her broomstick. And finally, the footage ends as the big demon head, which had been adorning the entrance to the haunt, comes alive too with its massive hands rising like it's climbing up from the depths of hell.

1:08:27 End of segment. The story, I gave Home Haunt a rating of a 4. I thought it was a lot of fun, a lot of chaos involved. A lot of bodies got dropped, a lot of action. And it's a story that I would like to see the conclusion of, or at least the continuation of. I think it could benefit from that no -wake and ambrosia treatment where we have that second segment. That continues things like maybe told from the point of view of the witch who's still flying around wreaking havoc or that big ass demon that's now roaming the earth.

1:09:02 Or better yet, show us from the point of view of Nancy as she becomes like a monster hunter trying to eliminate these, you know, nefarious beings that her husband has released upon the planet. That could be pretty cool. For special effects, I went with a rating of a 5. There was some CGI on the flying ghosts early when things started popping off, but there was also like practical blood effects mixed in there as well. And the little kid in the bumblebee costume who got ripped apart, that was done practically and it looked insane.

1:09:37 Then when Zack's little crush got her scalp and chin torn off, that was also practically done. And this seemed like one of those... you know hypothetical questions that people ask their significant other like would you still love me if i didn't have a chin well zach what's your answer here my boy because remember looks fade but personality is forever who needs a chin right other special effects highlights include the abandoned little sisters boiled remains in the cauldron and of course that head split with the axe just off of that by itself This could have probably gotten like a 4, 4 .5.

1:10:20 But yeah, when you roll it all together, definitely a solid 5 for special effects. For situational fear, I went with the rating of 5 as well. I mean, you are locked in this confined, relatively confined space with these undead, demonic, supernatural, paranormal, whatever type of creatures. And you can only escape by going deeper through the attraction. That is crazy. That is crazy. You're watching people around you get torn apart. Watching kids get torn in half and chins get ripped off. Yeah nah.

1:10:58 Fear level hella high. Pants hella shitty. But all this could have been avoided with one different decision. So for likelihood of death. I gave Home Haunt a rating of a two because Keith, why did you have to steal the record? Why did you have to ignore the sign that said staff only? And most importantly, why did you ignore the warning that said if you play this record on Halloween night, you will unleash dead upon the earth or whatever it said. And the symphony of hell like, bro, you had at least three chances.

1:11:40 to not fuck it up for everybody else and you drop the ball so yeah likelihood of death hella avoidable for everybody if keith just made better choices so that brings the overall rating for home haunt to a 4 .0 and last but not least the 42nd segment that we are breaking down in the vhs franchise the final segment at least until they release a new film And our number one ranked segment from VHS Halloween is Kid Print. Kid Print was written and directed by Alex Ross Perry, whose credits also include 2018's Her Smell, starring Elizabeth Moss, and a slew of music videos.

1:12:27 The story of Kid Print centers on a man named Tim Kaplan, who is the owner of Kaplan Electronics. And he provides a service called KidPrint, where they record videos of kids and teens to serve as the most up -to -date identification in case those kids go missing. Now, why, may you ask, does this company or business provide such a specific service? Well, the town has been hit with a wave of kidnappings and brutal murders. And a news report says that police are having a lot of trouble with the case because they can't find a common thread between the victims.

1:13:04 They have been of varying ages, come from different parts of town, etc. But as Tim wraps up shooting a kid printing video for a mother and her daughter, we get to meet a few of the other employees at the store. We see Alicia, who works at the counter. Miles in the back who does stock and also in the back is Bruce the guy who handles all the tech stuff. But Tim closes down the shop early to head home to get ready to take his kids trick -or -treating but the town is having like a lockdown version.

1:13:37 It's just a few dozen people heading to the town square in broad daylight while cops hand out one piece of candy to everyone before they must go home. Tim walks around recording everything for public safety, he says, hoping to capture the bad guy on film and be hailed as the local hero. While at the town square trick -or -treating extravaganza, Tim is wondering why everyone is acting so uptight. Gee, I wonder why, my guy. And a friend tells him that another teen named Olivia Hamill has just gone missing.

1:14:13 She went over to grab something from her car and simply vanished. Olivia had a kid print video made, but her parents are just a little bit too stressed to go back home to pick up their copy right now. So a cop asked him to go back to his store to get the backup so they can run it on the news ASAP. So Tim goes back to the store after hours and once he enters he hears sounds of screaming. He thinks someone left the TV on a horror movie or something but as he goes into the back he sees at Bruce's tech station that there are videos playing of kidnapped kids being tortured.

1:14:51 So it would appear that Bruce is the one who has been terrorizing the community. Tim then hears muffled sobbing and yelling coming from the other side of the store and goes to investigate. His shoes are a little loud here though so he has the awareness to kick them off but once he enters this new area all awareness is immediately lost. He sees Olivia Hamill who is clearly sobbing and saying please let me go. She is Clearly speaking to somebody who is not Tim, so logically one would assume that she is speaking to her kidnapper slash attacker.

1:15:34 But this fucking guy Tim just walks in and is like, hello? Like a fucking dummy. So Bruce is like, oh hey Tim, I see you decided to come in and work the weekend shift with me, huh? And he attacks him. In this back part of the store is where they film the kid print video. So Bruce is shooting his own twisted version, psychologically torturing his victims before he physically tortures them. Footage then cuts in showing how Bruce lures his victims to the store. He's out there in the streets with his video camera, comes across a teen boy, and he's telling them that they have cool tech back at the store and he should come check it out.

1:16:16 And the kid's like, okay, sounds super cool. Footage then cuts back to Tim's camera as Bruce drags him to his captive room and beats his knee with a hammer. But while he was being dragged back, Tim was hardly resisting and spent most of the time asking what Bruce was doing. Like, bro, what the fuck? Where is your awareness of the situation at hand? Why are you trying to have a conversation with the dude who was clearly... The serial killer that has been terrorizing your community. Like on those videos that Tim had seen playing on Bruce's station, Bruce was like carving people's skin off, carving people's faces off.

1:16:59 And so once Tim is laying on the ground, writhing in pain, holding his knee, Bruce takes one of those carved off faces that he turned into a mask and ties it onto Tim. And awkwardly, the kid who the face belongs to is also in this room and he's still alive. So he understandably freaks out when he sees Tim wearing his face. So he grabs the hammer and hits him in the head. And bro just loses his mind and is just screaming hysterically at the sight of his own face. He even tries to put it back on and it just slides off.

1:17:36 Absolutely crazy work. Bruce then brings Olivia down to the room too and she tells Faceless Boy that Tim was upstairs which means he must be working with Bruce. She then proceeds to stab Tim and she keeps stabbing him while Faceless Kid beats him in the head with a hammer. Tim helplessly tries to tell them he's innocent but ultimately succumbs to his injuries and dies. R .I .P. Tim. Here I am thinking these kids are true survivors. But then Olivia and Faceless Kid exit the room and leave their weapons behind.

1:18:13 Oh my goodness. We then hear sounds off screen of Bruce beating them to death with his weapon. And footage cuts to a news report calling Tim the Butcher of Ardmore. Everything has been pinned on him. Olivia and the Faceless Kid, whose name is really Drew according to the report, but I'm committed at this point. Their bodies have yet to be found. The news anchor interviews Bruce, who laments what has happened, but he's committed to continuing the KidPrint service for the sake of the children. Absolutely diabolical.

1:18:49 The final shot of the segment is of a girl screaming in front of the KidPrint board with the date saying November 4th, showing that Bruce has indeed continued his reign of terror. For story, I gave Kid Print a rating of a 5. I thought it was one of the more disturbing segments in the entire franchise. It seemed more grounded in reality, which ups the fear factor to a certain extent. Bruce appeared to be this mild -mannered, just regular -ass dude, but meanwhile, he's out here just doing crazy stuff, and that is a very scary thought.

1:19:31 And something that is definitely plausible and realistically can exist and does exist in the world today. Four days, though, seems like an awfully short amount of time to wait before starting back on your spree, though. Like, what's the point of having a patsy if you, you know, destroy that facade in less than a week? Are you trying to pass this off as a copycat? I don't know, that seems a little bit silly to me. Not that I'm advocating for serial killers to make better choices or to be more intelligent in covering their tracks, but I'm just saying.

1:20:08 For special effects, I went with a rating of a 5 as well. I mean, there was some pretty gnarly visuals in this segment. Bruce peeling the skin off his victims, it's all gooey and just looks gross and he's... pulling off faces and wearing them like a mask and putting the mask on other people as well. But normally when someone gets their face carved off or peeled off, they're just, they're cooked immediately. So I thought it was a nice touch having Faceless Kid survive that ordeal and be able to see his own face freak out and try to put it back onto his face like that.

1:20:47 Added a more memorable element not only to the story but also to the special effects in my opinion. Situational fear of course has to get a 5. I mean you're trapped in a basement having your face carved off and being forced to wear it again like a mask. Yeah that is terrifying. Nuff said. And finally, for likelihood of death, I went with a rating of a 3 because most of this was pretty avoidable. Step 1, don't follow a stranger back to the store just because he tells you he has cool stuff there. And number 2, if you're Tim and you hear signs of people in danger, screaming, sobbing, and begging for help in their life, maybe don't walk in just saying hello.

1:21:41 You had the wherewithal to take your shoes off because they were making too much noise, but then you walk in and make even more noise by saying hello. Makes no sense. So yeah, if Tim had been a little bit more aware of his surroundings, I think he could have gotten the drop on Bruce and saved himself, Olivia, and Faceless Kid at least. But hey. Live and you learn. Or in this case, you learn and then you die. Or maybe he never learned at all. I don't know. But that brings the overall score for Kid Print to a 4 .5.

1:22:18 Very strong. And I think it's going to shake up our top rankings. So to recap the ratings for every segment from VHS Halloween. First, we have Fun Size with a 3 .0. Then we had Oot Supra Sick Infra with a score of 3 .5, followed by Diet Phantasma, also with a score of 3 .5, but it got the edge on the tiebreaker on story quality versus Oot Supra Sick Infra. Coochie Coochie Coo, also with its score of 3 .5, got the tiebreaker over Oot Supra Sick Infra based on story quality and the tiebreaker over Diet Phantasma based on situational fear.

1:23:02 At number two, we had Home Haunt with that 4 .0. And of course, number one, Kid Print with its 4 .5. So our final top five segments in the VHS franchise, and I say final with an asterisk, if they make a ninth film or beyond, I will rank those segments as well. For now, or maybe forever, at number 5, supplanting Stork, we have Kidprint from VHS Halloween with a score of 4 .5. At number 4, we have Nowake slash Ambrosia from VHS 85 with a score of 4 .63. At number 3, we have Live and Let Die from VHS Beyond with a score of 4 .75.

1:23:47 At number two, we have Safe Haven from VHS2, also with a score of 4 .75, but it got the edge over Live and Let Die on special effects. And at number one, the top segment in the entire VHS franchise, according to Terrorific, is The Subject from VHS94 with that score of 4 .88. But that's all for me. Hope you enjoyed this season. I know I did. If you have been ranking the segments yourself, then let me know. I want to see how we compare. Don't forget to tell your friends, your grandma, your neighbor about your favorite horror film podcast.

1:24:27 I'll see you in a few months for season four. Still haven't decided what the theme is going to be. I have a few things jotted down, but need to nail that down and then get my film roster. So since this season only had eight episodes, I'm targeting season four, perhaps having 12, just so we can get back to that 10 episode per season average. But no promises. We'll see. But in the meantime, remember, always keep it spooky.