V/H/S/94 takes the horror anthology back in time in this bloody teaser

The V/H/S movies are home to some of the cleverest, most gruesome, and sometimes wackiest horror shorts around, but after three movies, the basic concept of finding a functioning VCR in a spooky location full of cursed/gross/kinda funny video tapes has begun to strain credibility. VCRs, even evil VCRs, will stop working eventually, and nobody wants to watch a horror anthology called D/V/D or i/T/unes (though the third movie dropped the VCR conceit anyway). So, for the fourth installment in the series, the creators have gone back to the series’ roots—or should we say reels?—with a prequel set in the ‘90s. Titled V/H/S/94, the new film is going straight to Shudder, the streaming service that sometimes feels the most like a stack of haunted tapes. (Amazon Prime feels the most like a stack of non-haunted tapes.)

The framing device this time around is a police raid on some kind of VHS cult, and the filmmakers involved are Simon Barrett (Séance), Timo Tjahjanto (May The Devil Take You Too), Jennifer Reeder (Knives & Skin), Ryan Prows (Lowlife), and Chloe Okuno (Slut). It’s hard to make any guesses about what the shorts in this anthology are about, but based on this trailer, there seems to be some spooky stuff at a funeral home, a mad scientist, a scary tunnel, dudes on a farm doing dangerous stuff, and some full-on Doom-style first-person shootering (the V/H/S franchise should consider expanding into video games). There’s also wacky little infomercial about a kitchen gadget that smashes vegetables, and we’re going to guess that that is also part of one of the horror stories and not just a little ‘90s TV gag. We see you, V/H/S/94. The film will premiere on Shudder on October 6, and don’t forget to rewind it when you’re done.