The Halloween season gives the horror streaming service Shudder its annual time in the spotlight, and its latest original release V/H/S/94 is taking advantage of the seasonal boost to become the platform’s most successful movie premiere to date.
Among Shudder’s original films, V/H/S/94 had an advantage in ascending the platform’s ranks: It’s a recognizable property with an established cult following garnered from V/H/S, the original 2012 anthology. V/H/S/94 marks the fourth installment in the horror franchise and the first new collection of V/H/S tapes since 2014’s V/H/S: Viral. With franchise alums including David Bruckner, Brad Miska, Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto returning for V/H/S/94, the Shudder premiere was a must-see for longtime fans of the found-footage franchise.
While Shudder did not release streaming numbers for V/H/S/94‘s premiere, it was announced a week after its debut that the film had firmly solidified its position as Shudder’s most watched original. The team at the specialty streaming service stated that V/H/S/94 has been “one of the best reviewed horror releases of the year.” V/H/S/94 currently maintains a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, outranking recent Halloween-related releases including Halloween Kills and The Addams Family 2.
Both critics and longtime fans of the franchise have been impressed with the latest V/H/S installment’s array of segments, including “The Empty Wake,” “The Veggie Masher,” “Storm Drain,” “Terror,” “Holy Hell” and “The Subject.” In V/H/S/94, the segments are framed as cassettes discovered by a SWAT team raiding a warehouse, only to find evidence of unsettling cult activity.
Craig Engler, the general manager of Shudder, attributes V/H/S/94’s success to the franchise’s legacy and renewable premise. “V/H/S had been one of the most fun and influential horror franchises of the 2010s, providing a showcase for a new generation of filmmakers,” Engler said.
Recent Shudder originals, released alongside V/H/S/94, include Martyrs Lane, The Medium and the fourth season of the Boulet Brother’s Dragula, a competitive search for the next drag supermonster. Shudder has two more anthology horror films set to premiere before Halloween with The Spine of the Night and Horror Noire, the latter of which shares its title and theme with the Shudder documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror.
Shudder’s biggest hit to date, V/H/S/94, debuted on Oct. 6 and is available to stream on the platform, alongside its other original horror films and series, just in time for the Halloween season.
Source: Shudder
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