The 8 Best ‘V/H/S’ Segments, Ranked
Horror movies are divisive in and of themselves, and the found footage subgenre is particularly polarizing. The shaky cam, disorientation, and glitchy effects can be understandably unappealing. Yet, the V/H/S films have earned a reputation for their anthology framework and diverse, unique, and horrifying stories. Sure, they’re not all good. But there’s something in each entry for fans of all types of horror.
V/H/S/99 was just released to streaming on October 20th and is available exclusively on Shudder. With that in mind, let’s run down some of our favorite selections from the now five films in this long-running series.
Here are some of the best V/H/S segments!
8. “Tuesday the 17th” – V/H/S/2
Nothing good ever happens in the woods. At least in horror movies. A group of friends take a trip with their strange new friend Wendy. She cryptically mentions something horrific that happened the last time she was there.
At first they don’t take her seriously. But they soon realize she is not joking, and Wendy brought them there for a reason.
The sense of dread in “Tuesday the 17th” is genuine. The flashes of what happened to Wendy’s friends throughout the clip creates a tense foreshadowing. The kills are pretty brutal, so gore fans will love it.
The clever element to “Tuesday the 17th” is that instead of the camera glitching out, the glitch is the antagonist. It’s even billed as Glitch in the credits.
7. “Storm Drain” – V/H/S/94
On location, a reporter is covering a local story about an urban legend of a creature living in the town’s sewers. As she pulls the “Hello? Is anyone in there…?” horror trope, she stumbles on the story of her career.
The suspense is present from the beginning, and it builds from there. It’s not overly violent, but has some parts that are pretty brutal, with a very well-done monster.
“Storm Drain” is a social commentary on how toxic modern day news broadcasts really are. Journalists will stop at nothing to get a story, even to their own detriment. If it bleeds it leads.
Hail Raatma.
6. “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” – V/H/S
One of the more unique segments in the series, this story is told completely through video chat conversations. It follows a woman who’s experienced unexplained circumstances since childhood. The conversation flows between her and her long-distance boyfriend, who is in med school to become a doctor.
She thinks her apartment is haunted by ghosts, but what’s really haunting her is something worse. And her “boyfriend” is not what he seems.
The filming technique here is different from any other in the series. The video chat method is an idea that resonates today more than ever. It’s got a good twist ending, and a heartbreaking allegory that anyone who’s participated in online dating can relate to.
The sick thing that happened to Emily wasn’t just when she was young.
5. “Shredding” – V/H/S/99
The title here is a bit of a double entendre. Shredding is slang in the music world for really going for it when playing, and it’s also a bit of foreshadowing as to the fate that befalls the kids disturbing the site of a hometown tragedy.
The kickoff segment from ‘99 is a unique homage to the teenage angst that accompanied the cusp of the turn of the millennium. It’s got all of the MTV, “I don’t care but I really do” ideology that was so prevalent with the youth of the era. Great suspense, great scares, and a lot of gore.
To paraphrase the entitled mentality of the era. “Get the fuck off my stage.”
4. “Amateur Night” – V/H/S
The V/H/S series kicks off with the only segment that got its own spinoff movie: Siren. A group of frat boys is trying to pick up girls to make their own amateur adult movie – unbeknownst to the women. One of the guys, Clint, is wearing glasses with a hidden camera and microphone.
They meet a strange girl named Lily who acts very odd and only says, “I like you” in the most unsettling way. After meeting another girl, they go back to a hotel room to get the fun started.
As they begin to undress Lily, Clint realizes she has feet with scales and claws, but the other two don’t realize. I don’t think this is the kind of action the guys were looking for.
“Amateur Night” is genuinely creepy. Hannah Fierman is great as Lily, and she does a lot with her one-word dialogue. She’s so good that director David Bruckner tapped her for his 2016 feature film Siren.
The series got off to a strong start with this one.
3. “Safe Haven” – V/H/S/2
“Safe Haven” has great pacing, an interesting story, and an atmosphere that is as foreboding as it gets. A cult living in a remote commune is planning a joint trip into the afterlife. Or something like it.
Through multiple conversations with the leader, the crew begins to realize there is something much more sinister going on. It moves well, and the “slow boil” feel has a climactic ending.
“Safe Haven” is genuinely eerie. The feeling of isolation is very well done, and the protagonists are likable. You actually care what happens to them. And it’s also the only segment in the V/H/S series that is entirely in a foreign language.
With a title like “Safe Haven”, you know it’s anything but.
2. “To Hell and Back” – V/H/S/99
Most of the segments start off pretty innocuous before the shit totally hits the fan. Not this one. It’s go-time from the first frame and never looks back.
A woman offers herself to be the vessel for a cult to summon a demon. Needless to say, things go very wrong. They summon the wrong demon and send it back to Hell, taking the camera crew that’s filming the ritual with it. You then get to go on an adventure with them through a very interesting interpretation of Hell.
“To Hell and Back” is a fun ride through the most horrific haunted house you can imagine. It has amazing set and costume design, and Melanie Stone is fantastic as the antihero Mabel. The camera work is well done, so if you don’t like the glitchy, “can’t tell what’s going on” visuals present in a lot of found footage horror movies this one shouldn’t bother you so much.
The phrase “go to Hell” just took on a whole new meaning.
1. “Terror” – V/H/S/94
None of the V/H/S segments really have…anything to do with reality. That’s the point. “Terror” changed that.
In this segment a white supremacist militia living in a remote, fortified compound are planning to blow up a government building. In their twisted ideology this will “take back America”.
They have a sophisticated camera system, specifically focused on a small shed covered in crosses. Inside is a hostage kept in chains. They regularly execute the man at point-blank range, and do it all over again the next day.
It’s revealed that the hostage is a vampire. His blood explodes in sunlight, and they’re planning to use it in their terrorist attack. Needless to say, they get what’s coming to them.
“Terror” is entertaining and full of action. It’s got a good amount of suspense, but it’s more of a thriller than straight-up horror. It’s a commentary on how hate never dies. Even if it seems like it’s gone, it’s just simmering beneath the surface. But it will always come back.
This is what makes the underlying message of “Terror” so powerful.
The V/H/S movies are unique among found footage horror movies in that each one is made up of multiple short films. With so many stories, some are bound to be better than others. These are some of the segments that stand out to us.
What are some of your favorite V/H/S segments? Let us know on Twitter @DreadCentral.
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