V/H/S/85’s Scott Derrickson Confirms His Segment Takes Place in The Black Phone Universe (Exclusive)

Director Scott Derrickson delivered a sleeper horror hit last year, in the form of Blumhouse’s The Black Phone, based on the story by Joe Hill. The Black Phone debuted to rave critical reviews and over $160 million at the box office. While a sequel to the film hasn’t happened just yet, Derrickson has dipped his toes back into the world of The Black Phone with his latest work, a segment in Shudder’s upcoming horror anthology V/H/S/85. 

The new chapter in the V/H/S series doesn’t come out until October 6th, so we won’t give too much away, but there is a direct connection between Derrickson’s segment and The Black Phone. While speaking to ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian ahead of the film’s exclusive debut on Shudder, Derrickson explained how his segment takes place in the same canonical world as The Black Phone.

“Oh, there’s actually a universe crossover in there, which I guess I made it too subtle because nobody’s picking it up,” Derrickson explained. “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,” he added.

In The Black Phone, Gwen has a gift where she has dreams of things before they happen. That gift helps lead to the rescue of her brother, who has been taken captive by a serial kidnapper and killer. Derrickson’s segment in V/H/S/85 has a character with the exact same gift, and it goes as far as to directly name characters from The Black Phone.

What Is V/H/S/85 About?

V/H/S/85 is the sixth feature entry in the popular anthology horror series, which began with V/H/S in 2012. This new edition of the series includes segments from Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Doctor Strange, The Black Phone), David Bruckner (The Ritual, Hellraiser – 2022), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell, The Purge TV series), Natasha Kermani (Lucky), and Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn – 2021).

The new sequel is described, “An ominous mixtape blends never before seen footage with nightmarish newscasts and disturbing home video to create a surreal, analog mashup of the forgotten ’80s.”