V/H/S (2012)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 93
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 42
An uneven collection of found-footage horror films, V/H/S has some inventive scares but its execution is hit-and-miss.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 23
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 13
An uneven collection of found-footage horror films, V/H/S has some inventive scares but its execution is hit-and-miss.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 12,540
Movie Info
When a group of petty criminals is hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn't going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last. -- (C)
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Joe Swanberg
Sam, Sam ('Second Ho... -
Adam Wingard
Brad ('Tape 56'), Ro... -
Sophia Takal
Stephanie, Stephanie... -
Kate Lyn Sheil
Girl ('Second Honeym... -
Calvin Reeder
Gary, Gary ('Tape 56... -
Lane Hughes
Zak, Zak ('Tape 56') -
Helen Rogers
Emily, Emily ('The S... -
Hannah Fierman
Lily, Lily ('Amateur... -
Kentucker Audley
Rox ('Tape 56') -
Frank Stack
Old Man ('Tape 56') -
Sarah Byrne
Abbey ('Tape 56') -
Melissa Boatright
Tabitha ('Tape 56') -
Simon Barrett
Steve ('Tape 56') -
Andrew Droz Palermo
Fifth Thug ('Tape 56... -
Mike Donlan
Shane ('Amateur Nigh... -
Joey Sykes
Patrick ('Amateur Ni... -
Drew Sawyer
Clint ('Amateur Nigh... -
Jas Sams
Lisa ('Amateur Night... -
Nicholas Tecosky
Bartender ('Amateur ... -
Rob Mosca
Bouncer ('Amateur N... -
Graham Reznick
Local DJ ('Second Ho... -
Norma C. Quinones
Wendy ('Tuesday the ... -
Drew Moerlein
Joey ('Tuesday the 1... -
Jeannine Yoder
Samantha ('Tuesday ... -
Jason Yachanin
Spider, Spider ('Tu... -
Bryce Burke
The Glitch ('Tuesda... -
Jennifer Sacks
Victim By Wall ('Tu... -
Glenn McQuaid
Victim in River ('Tu... -
Daniel Kaufman
James ('The Sick Th... -
Liz Harvey
New Girl ('The Sick... -
Isaiah Hillman
Boy Alien -
Corrie Lynne Fitzpat...
Girl Alien -
Taliyah Hillman
Little Girl Alien ('... -
Chad Villella
Chad (10/31/98) -
Matt Bettinelli-Olpi...
Matt (10/31/98) -
Tyler Gillett
Tyler (10/31/98) -
Paul Natonek
Paul (10/31/98) -
Nicole Erb
The Girl (10/31/98) -
John Walcutt
Cult Leader (10/31/9... -
Bilal Mir
Cult Dude (10/31/98) -
Damion Stephens
Cult Dude (10/31/98) -
Koz McCrane
Cult Dude (10/31/98) -
Eric Curtis Johnson
Roommate (10/31/98) -
Nicole Boccumini
Niky (10/31/98) -
Melinda Fleming
Melinda (10/31/98) -
Joshua Carey
Passerby -
Justin Martinez
Passerby
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All Critics (93) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (42) | DVD (3)
The mostly played-out found footage aesthetic has its limitations, and V/H/S doesn't escape all of them. But the collected directors do manage to make many of those limitations into the films' strengths.
Top CriticI came, I saw, I hunkered.
"V/H/S" probably sounded great in the pitch meeting, but it loses all luster through some shoddy execution.
Two hours of nausea-inducing shaky cam footage that fails to tell a coherent or engrossing central story.
The film also plays to the strengths of the found-footage format, proving that sometimes the scariest things are the ones you can barely see.
Hardcore horror lovers will soak up the gruesome morsels.
Consistently intense but inconsistently satisfying ... in its attempt to pack relentlessly downbeat horror into 20-minute packages.
A solid and entertaining anthology film...
Conceptual pedantry aside, there are things to enjoy here.
A hit-and-miss affair.
It might well be a brand-new different kind of found footage movie, but it's no better a work of horror cinema as a result.
The anthology framework works well and features enough audacious moments to merit a viewing.
This has been attracting a lot of enthusiasm from horror buffs but it is hard to see why.
A nauseating experience on every level.
A mixed bag of found-footage horror shorts, this anthology gives rising star filmmakers a chance to do something original with the genre. Of course, some of the clips are much more effective than others, and some are little more than gimmicky jokes.
Thankfully, more often than not, these five shorts work.
Smart, scary stuff.
Several of the shorts build ingeniously, and their brevity solves the serial problem of found footage, which is how to maintain interest and plausibility in shaky-cam antics for a whole feature.
Fails to fulfil its grisly potential.
V/H/S works very well, with some of the segments genuinely inducing a sense of dread and unease while others create a videotape reality that just delights with its own twisted logic.
Spectacular hits and forgivable misses make this a surefire candidate for cult status.
A fantastic and fantastical example of how much life remains in the handy cam horror genre.
Entertaining horror anthology with strong performances, decent special effects and a handful of nice ideas, though some of the stories work better than others and the film is let down by a weak linking segment.
Like last year's Chronicle, here's another reminder that in the right hands found footage still has plenty of capacity to surprise.
Some of the segments are more successful than others, but all of them could do with better actors.
Screechy, surprising and, in places, proper scary, this glitchy genre mixtape puts invention ahead of attention span, representing a 4/6 victory for killer over filler.
Audience Reviews for V/H/S
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Stephanie ('Second Honeymoon'): Did you erase it?
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Terrible fucking movie | 8 days ago | 4 |
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September 20, 2012:
Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard Talk V/H/SA look behind the scenes of the found-footage horror anthology.
April 26, 2012:
V/H/S Directors in Talks for Found Footage Frankenstein MovieYes, you read that right.
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Foreign Titles
- VHS (FR)
