We’ve Seen the Green Witch in ‘Wizard of Oz’ But Never in a Horror Movie — Until Now [Exclusive]

Looking for the next must-know horror directors? There’s no better place to turn to than the V/H/S franchise. Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Radio Silence, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead — the list goes on and on. Many of the most exciting voices soaring in the genre right now have a V/H/S film as an early credit on their resume. And that isn’t stopping. V/H/S/94 director Ryan Prows returns to Fantastic Fest this year with his feature film Night Patrol. The director behind favorite segments in V/H/S/85, Mike P. Nelson, has two feature titles on the horizon, Titan and the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake. And then, V/H/S/Beyond’s Kate Siegel is gearing up to make her feature directorial debut.

Producer Josh Goldbloom and co. have a knack for pinpointing talent on the rise in the genre space and hopes are high they’ve done it again with two V/H/S/Halloween directors, R.H. Norman and Micheline Pitt. Norman and Pitt are the directors behind the short film Grummy which stars a young actor who’s already a certified genre icon, M3GAN and The Haunting of Hill House’s Violet McGraw. It’s an ambitious short. In fact, for Goldbloom, it signaled that Norman and Pitt were the type of directors who are “punching above their weight class,” a quality he deems a V/H/S standard. Mere minutes after arriving on the set of their segment, “Home Haunt,” it became quite clear that they were doing it again. They were swinging bigger than ever.

During my set visit interview with Norman, Pitt and Goldbloom, Norman stressed, “When we’re gonna do something, we’re gonna do something that no one else will try.” He added, “We just like ambition. I feel like if the success is gonna be incredible or the failure is going to be catastrophic, that’s what I want. I want that because there’s no other reason to do something.”

With that mentality, and Pitt and Norman’s unique skillsets, “Home Haunt” is in great shape to become a V/H/S/Halloween standout. Not only do Pitt and Norman boast a wealth of knowhow and experience that spans a multitude of film set departments, but they also whipped up a genius idea for a V/H/S segment.

What Is ‘V/H/S/Halloween’s “Home Haunt” About?

What if your favorite Halloween haunt came to life?

As the title of the franchise’s eighth installment suggests, every V/H/S/Halloween segment is holiday-themed, and Norman and Pitt have opted to focus on one of my favorite things about spooky season — home haunts. Theme park haunts like Halloween Horror Nights are often incredible, but there’s something extra special about the average person opting to build a maze all on their own for their neighbors to enjoy.

“Home Haunt” is about a family who makes a local haunt maze every Halloween, with the father being the most enthusiastic of the bunch. His son, Zach, enjoyed the activity quite a bit when he was young, but as a young adult, playing Igor Mortis Jr. to his father’s Dr. Mortis and his mother’s Bride of Mortis isn’t the cool thing to do. Pitt further explained:

“It’s become really embarrassing for Zach as he’s gotten older, but he’s still forced to record a walk-through of the big opening night of the maze. He saves it, and his dad sits and watches them and cuts it together. It’s like this family memory thing, but it becomes a place of shame and torture for Zach because he gets teased in school.”

Another year, another haunt. But, this year, dear old dad is determined to make the maze scarier than ever. In an effort to do that, he adds a few more frills, including a record he steals from a local antiques shop. Little does he know, there’s a reason the record wasn’t for sale. It’s cursed, and that cursed record brings their haunt to life.

‘Home Haunt’ Doesn’t Hold Back — Trick or Treaters Will Die

No one is safe in ‘V/H/S/Halloween’ … even children.

The trick or treater is a Halloween staple and, more often than not, trick or treaters are young children. How exactly did Norman and Pitt approach having kids face off against bloodthirsty monsters? Pitt explained:

“We’re trying to capture the same mood that Stephen King has captured in so many of his films and his creations. Looking at the It films and the It franchise, or miniseries, I think that they have handled those kids’ deaths in a way that works for horror, but were also really tasteful. There’s nothing about this that’s gratuitous. I don’t think it’s gratuitous. I think that it’s purposeful and earned.”

Norman jumped in to break down how that mentality and those goals impacted their story structure:

“What we do is we really like to start with really warm, Amblin magic, and we would like to take it to a much darker place than Amblin never did. That’s what we did with Grummy, it’s what we’re doing with this. We start off with probably more dialogue and more character interactions than most V/H/S segments have, but it’s about building that up.”

Pitt also emphasized a certain something that’s vital to the success of almost every single horror film. “You have to care about this family. You have to hope they make it through.” She added, “It allows the viewer to feel connected and actually care about what happens and make the danger that they’re in feel more real.”

We’re Finally Getting a Traditional Halloween-Style Green Witch on Screen

A Halloween icon makes her horror movie debut!

Photo by Charlotte Townsend

There’s a number of rooms in Dr. Mortis’ House of Horrors, so expect to see a variety of monsters in play in “Home Haunt.” But, there’s one in particular that’s considered the crown jewel. It’s one of the most iconic Halloween characters who somehow has yet to make an appearance in a horror film. It’s the classic Halloween-style green witch. Pitt explained:

“We’ve never seen her in a horror film. She’s never been represented outside of, like, The Wizard of Oz. That’s how everyone’s associated her, but she is so much older than that and so much scarier. In America, here for Halloween, she’s become an iconic figure for trick-or-treat, Halloween season, and she’s never existed. So, we really wanted to do something with that.”

Norman also took a moment to tease the other deadly forces lurking in Dr. Mortis’ transformed maze:

“They’re all picked very specifically. We wanted all the Americana classic home haunt mazes. You walked in and there was always an executioner with an electric chair. It was always ghouls. They didn’t have zombies. Those old mazes always had ghouls, like undead creatures. Then there was always a green Halloween witch and some white-sheeted ghosts. So we picked all the other ones and we were like, ‘How can we take Americana Halloween maze monsters and make them scary or disturbing or just really push it and still keep that nostalgia, but push it somewhere new?’”

R.H. Norman and Micheline Pitt Are Horror Filmmakers on the Rise

After ‘V/H/S/Halloween,’ they’re teaming up with James Wan.

Photo by Charlotte Townsend

V/H/S/Halloween’s big debut at Fantastic Fest 2025 is right around the corner, but that’s only going to be the beginning for Pitt and Norman. Norman noted:

“You only get to direct so many things, and we’ve gotten a lot of support lately, and it’s great. We have great producers on other projects, on all these different things, but for a long time, it’s been whatever resources we could marshal ourselves.”

Perhaps the duo will continue to make those kinds of projects, but they’re going to have to be scheduled between more substantial opportunities. Their next production will mark their feature directorial debut, and it’s being produced by none other than horror master James Wan. The movie is called Cosmetic and, according to IMDb, “It tells the supernatural story of a girl’s deadly pursuit of perfection.”

What is it about Pitt and Norman that’s attracting the attention of such prolific genre producers like Goldbloom and Wan? It might have something to do with the fact that their creativity and ambition is off the charts and they have the understanding of what it takes for each department to execute their ideas. Norman noted, “Micheline’s a walking art department.” She continued:

“We know how to talk to all the departments, and have a clear line of communication. The biggest thing I think that happens with a lot of these creative departments that work on film is that directors don’t know what they want. They don’t know how to say what they want. They don’t know how to articulate it. If they can’t draw or put something creatively together like that, they need to find time to visualize it in other ways for the departments so that they can lead with their strongest foot forward, and people don’t waste time, resources, or money not knowing what you want.”

The possibilities are endless for Norman and Pitt, especially when backed by top-tier producers like Wan and V/H/S’s Josh Goldbloom. During my conversation with Norman, Pitt and Goldbloom, Norman warned, “Josh might get mad if we start bragging about him, but he’s kind of awesome.” He added, “Josh is a director’s producer, and that’s the best kind of producer you can ever be. He understands talent, he’s good at finding people he can work with well, and Josh is just a joy to work with.”

Pitt also made a point to note:

“As a female filmmaker, I must say, I’ve never felt safer around someone like Josh. He feels like my brother. I feel protected. I feel safe. I feel like I can trust him, and that means so much. I’m so supported. I’ve never felt that in any other job before by anybody. I really mean this when I say, I really hope this is not the last time that we get to work with Josh, because he’s one of my favorite people now. I can’t wait to make more stuff with him, because I can’t wait to see what we can do together.”

Goldbloom then affirmed, “It’s just the beginning.”

Keep an eye out for more on V/H/S/Halloween from Fantastic Fest 2025 right here on Collider! After celebrating its world premiere in Austin, Texas, the movie streams exclusively on Shudder starting October 3.

V/H/S/Halloween

Release Date

October 3, 2025

Runtime

115 Minutes

Director

Paco Plaza, Casper Kelly, Alex Ross Perry, Bryan M Ferguson, Anna Zlokovic, R.H. Norman

Writers

Anna Zlokovic, Bryan M. Ferguson, Micheline Pitt, R.H. Norman

Producers

James Harris, Michael Schreiber, Brad Miska

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