The first movie in the V/H/S horror anthology franchise was released in 2012 and featured a number of shorts created by horror directors who were gathered together by Bloody Disgusting in their first movie production. Each short was filmed in the "found footage" style with an additional story that framed the movie.
V/H/S was an instant hit among horror fans and led to the development of a number of sequels and spin-offs over the years, though the first movie still stands out as one of the scariest. We're going to take a closer look at each segment from the original V/H/S to determine which story scared fans the most.
6 "Tape 56" Is The Main Storyline That Connects The Various Horror Tapes And Features A Few Scares
V/H/S's anthology format involved a story that framed the other tales which was written and directed by Adam Wingard, who is best known for movies like You're Next and the modern Godzilla vs. Kong. The story followed a group of friends engaging in a number of criminal acts that saw them hired by an unknown party to break into a house and steal a specific VHS tape.
There they discover a dead resident and a number of tapes that they begin to watch over the course of the evening, which has a deadly ending after all of the anthology stories are played. It's not the scariest segment in the movie but it sets up the movie's premise well and features some fun jump scares. Following the brutal murders of the robbers and the final segment of V/H/S, the tape of their criminal actions plays as the credits roll.
5 "The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger" Is Interesting But Not That Scary
Director Joe Swanberg starred in the "Second Honeymoon" segment but also directed "The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger" which is told entirely through online video chats between a long-distance couple. They begin to hear strange sounds in her new apartment and see what appears to be a ghostly child, leading them to believe her place is haunted.
She also develops an odd growth on her arm that she becomes fixated on, leading to her causing harm to herself while trying to investigate it. That night she attempts to contact the ghostly children and is knocked. Her boyfriend then appears in the apartment and it's revealed that she is being used to carry alien/human hybrids while he works with the aliens and fakes injuries to cover up the experiments. It's also revealed that she isn't the only girl this is happening to either. It was definitely an interesting premise but the short wasn't filled with a lot of scary moments.
4 "Second Honeymoon" Is A Creepy Slow Burn That Touches On Home Invasion Fears With A Twist
Writer/director Ti West has made a name for himself in horror with movies like The Innkeeper and The House of the Devil, both of which were slow-burn atmospheric horrors. "Second Honeymoon" was also the second segment of V/H/S and featured a similar slow burn as it followed a married couple filming their honeymoon road trip across the country as they visit places like the Grand Canyon.
On their first night at a hotel, a masked person breaks into their hotel and uses the camera while touching the sleeping couple and stealing money. The next night the masked person breaks in again and stabs the husband violently before proceeding to make out with the wife, revealing they were lovers. The short was definitely creepy and touched on home-invasion horror but wasn't the scariest overall.
3 "Tuesday the 17th" Is A Love Letter To 80s Slasher Movies That Introduces A New Type Of Killer
Director Glenn McQuaid's love for 80s slasher movies is evident in his segment called "Tuesday the 17th," which followed a group heading to a remote part of the country for a camping trip that they are filming with a handheld camera. They were invited by their friend who had been going there every year, though it's revealed she was being deceitful with plans when inviting everyone.
As they film various landmarks in the area as directed by the returning camper, the footage fades in and out with grisly images of murdered people. They soon find themselves hunted down and brutally murdered by a mysterious killer whose body is blurred out on camera with a digital glitch. She reveals that she was part of the original group of murdered campers and she returned trying to trap and kill the "Glitch," but he kills them all. After her death, the final shots reveal that she is also starting to glitch out as well. It's a spotlight of classic slasher horror that works very well in the anthology format.
2 "10/31/98" Features What Appears To Be An Exorcism Gone Wrong And A Terrifying Haunted House
The final tape and segment of V/H/S was directed by a group known as Radio Silence and followed four friends on Halloween night, with one dressed as a teddy bear nanny cam who was documenting the evening. They attempt to go to a friend's party but are lost and end up at the wrong house, though they head inside thinking they are just early. As they make their way through the house they begin to experience supernatural events that lead them to believe they are at a Halloween haunted house.
As they reach the attic they encounter a group of men who appear to be performing an exorcism on a captive woman. The friends join in the chanting which distracts the gathered men who start getting thrown around the room when the friends try to free her. As they try and leave with the woman, the paranormal activity increases dramatically. They almost escape in their car but their car stalls on train tracks. She then disappears from the car and screams at them from outside as the train crashes into them, killing everyone. It's one of the scariest segments in V/H/S with impressive effects and a great ending.
1 "Amateur Night" Features An Unforgettable Monster That Launched A Feature-Length Movie
David Bruckner (The Ritual, The Night House) directed the first segment of V/H/S called "Amateur Night," which also turned out to be one of the scariest from the anthology movie. The tape followed a group of guys on a bachelor night as they attempted to secretly film an amateur porno with girls they picked up at the club. One of the girls from the bar developed an odd attraction to the guy wearing the secret camera glasses and displayed troubling behavior.
Things quickly turned violent and horrifying when a couple of the other guys attempted to get physical with her. She turned into a demonic succubus and murdered the others in the hotel room before transforming into a winged monster. She eventually captures her chosen mate, though when she rejects him she carries him high in the air and drops him, breaking the camera. The short proved to be one of the original movie's most successful which led to a feature-length spin-off called Siren.
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