V/H/S/85: Scott Derrickson’s segment references The Black Phone characters

V/H/S/85, the latest entry in the found footage horror anthology V/H/S/ franchise, will begin streaming on Shudder service (which previously had great success with V/H/S/94 and V/H/S/99) tomorrow, October 6th. This one consists of segments that were directed by David Bruckner (Hellraiser 2022), Scott Derrickson (The Black Phone), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell), Natasha Kermani (Lucky), and Mike P. Nelson (the Wrong Turn reboot) – and during an interview with ComicBook.com, Derrickson revealed that his segment is set in the same universe as The Black Phone! It even includes references to some Black Phone characters…

Derrickson said, “Oh, there’s actually a universe crossover in there, which I guess I made it too subtle because nobody’s picking it up. But James Ransone tells Detective Wayne, when he’s behind the glass, he was talking about Gunther. He says, ‘He has these dreams that are prophetic.’ And he says, ‘My sister had the same gift. They drove her crazy, she killed herself.’ And he said, ‘Gunther’s cousin Gwen has the same thing too. I f***ing hate it.’ Well, the sister is Gwen’s mom, and Gwen is Gwen from The Black Phone. It’s literally the same gift, it’s this ability to dream things before they happen, or have these prophetic, futuristic, surreal dreams.“

V/H/S/85 has the following synopsis: An ominous mixtape blends never before seen snuff footage with nightmarish newscasts and disturbing home video to create a surreal, analog mashup of the forgotten 80s.

Bruckner had this to say about the project: “The V/H/S series is a continued love letter to found footage nastiness and the mad variety of anthology horror. Having helmed a segment of the OG film, I’m beyond excited to be back behind the camera in V/H/S/85, alongside some of my very favorite voices in the genre.”

Bruckner produced V/H/S/85 alongside Josh Goldbloom of Cinepocalypse, Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting, the filmmaking collective Radio Silence (which consists of Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, and Tyler Gillett), and James Harris. Studio71’s Michael Schreiber and Adam Boorstin serve as executive producers.

V/H/S/85 is the sixth V/H/S/ movie, but if you factor in the spin-offs SiREN (which was based on a segment from the first movie) and Kids vs. Aliens (based on a segment from the second V/H/S/), it’s the eighth installment in the overall franchise. Or what one might call the “V/H/S/ Cinematic Universe”.

Are you looking forward to V/H/S/85? What do you think of Derrickson setting his segment in the same universe as The Black Phone? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols gave V/H/S/85 a 6/10 review you can read at THIS LINK.