With October upon us, horror fans have no shortage of new films to devour. From Bleecker Street’s Bone Lake to Neon’s Shelby Oaks and Paramount’s Shell, this season’s horror lineup has something for everyone. Another genre staple making its return is the V/H/S franchise with V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, fresh from its Fantastic Fest premiere and now streaming on Shudder.
The V/H/S franchise has always thrived on its scrappy authenticity—grainy home video textures and the unnerving sense that you’re watching something you were never meant to see. In the anthology’s latest installment, cinematographer Sean McDaniel brings those qualities to life in “Home Haunt”, a chilling, candy-colored nightmare from directors Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman. Blending the nostalgic warmth of family-recorded Halloween traditions with the creeping dread and full-throttle mayhem that the series is known for, McDaniel leans into the imperfections of VHS-era filmmaking to sell a world where witches ride, blood flows, and the line between homemade fun and true terror vanishes.
In the below interview, McDaniel discusses crafting the segment’s retro aesthetic, collaborating with the Normans, and why capturing “badly framed shots” was just as important as nailing the scares.
Dread Central: How did you first get involved with the V/H/S Halloween anthology, and specifically the “Home Haunt” segment?
Sean McDaniel: I came on board the project with the Normans. We’ve been friends and collaborators for a very long time, and I’m always game for whatever wild stuff they come up with. This was my first time working with the V/H/S franchise team, but I had been a fan of the films and had a great time working with them.
SM: The time period determines the format options available. Ours has a brief section in the late 70s, so that was a Super 8 look, and the majority is set in the early 80s, which meant VHS. The family is shooting these home movies of their Halloween haunt, so with that, I knew we were going to stick to single cam. A nice benefit is that it’s apparent they’ve been doing this for a long time, so we felt there was some leeway to have them be pretty decent behind the camera, within reason.
DC: What excited you about shooting a Halloween-themed short in the V/H/S universe?
SM: It’s obviously a great theme for the franchise and especially for our directors, the Normans. To say they love the Halloween season would be an understatement. Practically all of the decorations in our segment are their personal decorations. So I knew they would really bring that classic Halloween spirit with that mix of comedy and horror, which is a blast to make.
DC: Can you talk about working with directors Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman? What were your initial conversations like before shooting commenced?
SM: We’ve been friends and collaborators for so long, we’re always talking about ideas even before the script phase. So it really begins with story. But we were already talking visuals as they’re writing and sharing drafts. By the time we get to the actual normal prep period, it usually feels like we’ve already done half of that work. We start with a detailed shot list and then they make storyboards for all the key scenes. The majority of the back half of the segment is boarded, so all departments are clear on what we’re executing.
DC: Were you given any information about the four other segments in the film, so there could be a cohesive vibe between them all?
SM: We knew the overall story and tone of each segment, but hadn’t read the scripts for them. The producers have been doing these for so long, they really have an understanding of how to balance the different segments, so a lot of that work was already done. I do think they really nailed it with this batch that offers something for every type of V/H/S fan.
DC: Did you lean into imperfections—shaky frames, blown-out highlights, camera dropouts— to sell authenticity?
SM: That was definitely something we were considering through shot listing, and then when it came to my operating on the day. A lot of the first half has natural cuts where the camera stops and then starts later. We even put notes in the shot list to make sure some of those shots either start or end in a bad frame, since people don’t think about that when they turn off the camera. In our shot list, you can see the abbreviation BFS for “badly framed shot” as a reminder on the shoot day.
That said, we also know we’re not going to fool anyone that any of this is real, so it becomes an aesthetic choice. We tried to find a nice balance that could keep enough authenticity, but also wanted to make sure we shot it in a way that embraced the storytelling and energy of the piece. Especially in the back half.
DC: An iconic green witch makes an appearance in “Home Haunt”. Can you talk about how you lit this character? Did you have to shoot her with different lighting because of the green skin?
SM: The make-up team did such amazing work with all of the creatures, and especially the witch. We didn’t have to make any compromises on lighting for her green skin. With her appearing in a section that is meant to look like one unbroken shot, we were limited to lighting the space and letting the actors and me with the camera just move through it. We did some very minor tweaks to her skin tone in the color grade, just to make sure the green really popped in the different lighting situations, but that was it. She was easy to key with that green skin, which was nice.
DC: Did you intentionally limit your equipment—lenses, rigs, stabilization—to stay true to the home video vibe?
SM: Those were all considerations for sure. I knew we’d be shooting on a modern camera system for VFX needs, so I wanted to have a build that allowed me to feel as mobile as possible and have the zooming capabilities you’d expect from VHS. We primarily used a zoom lens with a cine-servo zoom, which allowed me to control the zoom in a similar manner, and I shot at a higher base ISO of 4000 so I could shoot at a deeper stop, more like a f5.6 to f8, to have a deeper focus to match the VHS depth of field.
Our camera build was still a little larger than I had hoped, so I did use an EZrig for a large portion of the shoot. Instead of using that as stabilization, I was using it to take the weight off so I could move the camera around more freely, as if it were a VHS camera. I would add shake or rougher elements to my moves, but I had the freedom to pan and walk without it feeling like it was a shoulder-mounted cinema camera. There were plenty of times the set was too small for me to wear the rig, or the camera had to “fall”, so I would just go true handheld for those moments and try to make the movement feel as effortless as I could.
DC: Looking back, what shot or sequence from “Home Haunt” are you most proud of? (This is a little bit of a spoiler, so skip ahead if you haven’t seen V/H/S/HALLOWEEN yet)
SM: That would probably have to be the witch’s ride. It’s such a wild moment, and something that is primarily done practically, which makes me really happy. I think it really sells the sequence. We’re on a motorized rickshaw with one of our directors, Micheline, as the witch’s hands, me operating, our key grip driving, and a producer on a skateboard holding onto the side to trigger the blood pump for the dummy that’s also rigged off to the side.
We’re shooting at night, and there are extras having to run with very specific timing for everything to work. It was wild. It really encapsulates the entire segment in that it’s every department coming together and having to dance around these odd requirements to nail one particular moment. There’s no coverage, there’s nothing else to cut to. This is the moment we’re capturing, and it requires a lot from every department. It’s so fun working with everyone to make that happen.
DC: Home Haunt is the closing segment of V/H/S/HALLOWEEN. Did you know ahead of time it was going to be the last segment of the five? If so, did that change your approach at all?
SM: We didn’t know the order until every segment was completed. That’s another skill the producers have from their years of experience with this franchise. They are really great at nailing the rhythm of the segment timing. I don’t think it would have changed our approach. Each segment has to work on its own, and then the strength of the producers’ choices on the scripts and knowing the directors’ tones really comes across in how they put it all together. These are all such great segments, and we’re really proud to be among them.
V/H/S/Halloween is streaming now on Shudder.
Categorized: Interviews
