The fifth V/H/S film — plus the spinoffs Siren and Kids vs. Aliens — I think this was the best one that I’ve seen yet. It’s an absolute burst of fun and energy made by really talented creators and stands out amongst the recent glut of horror anthology films.

“Shredding” is directed and written by Maggie Levin. It’s the footage of a punk rock band that records their stunts for a web show. They’re broken into the Colony Underground, a former music venue that burned down and caused the deaths of each member of rising band Bitch Cat. One of the band’s members, Ankur, warns them that the legend of the bhuta says that anyone who defiles the final resting place of these spirits will be taken over by them. He runs away when his bandmates pretend to be possessed, but they won’t need to pretend for much longer.

“Suicide Bid” is directed and written by Johannes Roberts and its tale of sorority sisters burying one of their pledges alive feels like the kind of story that could have been expanded and made into a movie in the mid 80s. It’s filled with so many frights as well as a great twist ending.

Flying Lotus directed and co-wrote (with Zoe Cooper) “Ozzy’s Dungeon,” a segment that takes clips of a Nickelodeon-style game show that ends in tragedy and the family that has waited years for revenge. Beyond having a look that perfectly captures that style of entertainment, it twists and turns into something even better, as the family goes back into the dungeon to discover who Ozzy really is.

“The Gawkers” is directed by Tyler MacIntyre, who wrote it with Chris Lee Hill. The soldier sequences that show up throughout the film come from this, as some suburbans teens spy on their sexy new neighbor. It’s a scene we’ve seen before in other films, but here it becomes an experience of mythological terror.

“To Hell and Back” is by Vanessa and Joseph Winter, who also made Deadstream. On New Year’s Eve 1999, Nate and Troy have been hired by some witches to document a woman named Kirsten being transformed into the demon Ukabon. Yet during the ceremony, another demon named Ferkus drags Nate and Tony to Hell where they meet Mabel, a demon who decides to send them back if they promise to write her name in the witches’ book. Things don’t go so well from there, but they are awesome, as this is such a fun segment and I’m all for more Mabel, as her name is chanted through the credits, but not before Danzig’s “Long Way Back from Hell” blasts through the speakers.

I can’t wait for the next one, V/H/S/85. If the quality — and great stories — from this installment continue, I’ll watch as many of these as they make.

Probation officer Cathy Madden (Deirdre Mullins) has been assigned the case of Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty), a woman who’s just been released from prison following the murder of her husband twenty years ago. When she first drives her home, two children are waiting, wanting to meet the urban legend — she’s a witch, so they say — in person. Yet when those same two children soon go missing, Cathy learns she has so much more on her hands than a normal case.

Directed by Lynne Davison, this finds Cathy undergoing horror in her personal life as well, as her ex-husband Jason (Paul Kennedy) is remarried to a normal person who is with child (Roisin Gallagher) and even worse, Cathy’s son Luke (Jude Hill) calls her mom. This is something that Mary knows and uses against her, taunting her with how much it hurts to lose a child.

Of course, there’s also a demon, a wood baby made from roots and a town that wants to destroy Mary, who is now tied to Cathy through this horrific ritual.

While not the finest folk horror you can find, Mandrake is shot well and quite unsettling in parts. It’s definitely worth a watch if you’re struggling for something new to check out.

Directed and written by Andrew Semans, Resurrection is the story of Margaret (Rebecca Hall), a single mother and successful businesswoman. Her life is changing, as her daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufman) is leaving for college and she’s having an affair with Peter (Michael Esper), a married co-worker. Then things get weird.

Abbie finds a tooth in her wallet, a tooth that may belong to the smile of David (Tim Roth), a man from her mother’s past. He once had a child with her named Benjamin, a child he claimed to have consumed, leaving two fingers behind. Now, he claims that the child is still in him and begins abusing her all over again.

Resurrection is not an easy watch, a film dominated by Roth who makes its protagonists engage in what he calls kindnesses to prove his love to her. As you can see, that love is anything but typical and filled with violence, cruelty and torture. If you’re ready to endure this darkness, it’s also a rewarding film.

You can watch this on Shudder.

Young women have been going missing in Florida and the police can’t solve the case. A journalist named Saraf (Lauren Crandall) is investigating but feels like she’s not welcome. She ends up meeting a conspiracy theorist (David E. McMahon) who believes that the Wild Man of the swamps is behind it all. Her crew thinks he’s crazy but as they get closer and deeper into the swamp, he may be totally right.

Look, I’ll watch any Bigfoot movies and I’m more than excited that this movie has a skunk ape in it, which gets way more into the subspecies of the Bigfoot family tree, if you will. Throw in Michael Pare and you knew I was going to check this one out. I also love that this turns into a conspiracy movie where the government is behind all of this. The imagination of this film outdoes its budget and that’s something I love to see.

The Wild Man is available on Tubi from Terror Films.

Director Carl Sundström had an interesting thought he shared about this film: “Many years ago when I got my first glance of the second act of Cannibal Holocaust, I felt that faux documentaries was the best ways of touching the audience deep inside. A way to create a genuine feeling through a documentary format and bring the horror out from the screen into the real world. Ever since then I have been an avid found footage fanatic who appreciates the storytelling from a POV perspective. To have the slow burn concept where you get to know the characters thoroughly and you are feeling like a part of the story. A style of film where you cannot show more than the characters see. What they know, you know, and what you know, they know.”

In this film, the mysterious death of a mother and the disappearance of her child finds a group of freelance journalists within the unexplored — at least to Western audiences — outback of Sweden. Equipped with cameras and supplies to survive in the forest for days, Linn (Signe Elvin-Nowak), Joakim (Cristian Åsvik), Ola (Jonas Lundström) and Yasmin (Isabel Camacho) wander into the woods to find the truth.

As you may know, I am not a found footage fan, but if that’s what you love, well, then this movie is for you. At least you get to see some new scenery with all the shaky cameras.

Reportage November is on digital and VOD from Terror Films. It’s also on Tubi.