Ranking V/H/S movies and segments from the Amateur Night To Hell and Back
Every movie is someone’s favorite movie. If you are a fan of the V/H/S franchise and see your personal favorite movie ranked at or near the bottom of this list…don’t take it personally. Every movie has value.
Spoilers for the series and individual films are unavoidable.
We’ll start with the overall movies and finish with a quick ranking of individual segments.
Ranking V/H/S Movies
7. V/H/S: Viral
Franchise Killer
It’s usually pretty easy to pick out the weakest installment of a horror franchise. Ranking V/H/S: Viral in last place was even easier than most. The V/H/S series has been one of remarkable consistency. Perhaps not segment to segment…but the movies as a whole. Four out of five have been good movies. Then there is Viral.
The framing stories have never been a calling card of the V/H/S series…and Viral is no different. It’s not a boring one, but that’s about all it has going for it. Viral is also home to the weakest segment in the series, Dante the Great. The fun of Bonestorm and the occasionally effectiveness of Parallel Monsters provide some watchability…but neither touches the best of what the other films have to offer.
V/H/S: Viral is the one skippable entry in the V/H/S series.
6. V/H/S/2
Best in Show
From here on out all the ratings can be flipped around any way you want…until #1. There isn’t another bad movie in the bunch. What V/H/S/2 has that the other entries don’t…is Safe Haven. Safe Haven is the best segment in the V/H/S franchise. It’s good enough that you could argue that V/H/S/2 could rank atop this list just because of it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie isn’t in the same stratosphere. It does have maybe the best framing story…but I still wouldn’t classify it as very good. The other segments are all decent…but don’t reach the heights of the second or third best segments of the higher rated entries. V/H/S/2 does benefit from learning from its predecessor’s mistakes, providing a calmer and shorter experience. But when the highlight of your second-best segment is that it is a clever idea to attach a GoPro camera to a zombie…it’s just not enough.
Regardless of its placement in these rankings, V/H/S/2 has the one showstopping absolute can’t miss segment of the franchise. Go out of your way to see it.
Streaming on Peacock
5. V/H/S/85
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need a Framing Device
2023’s installment of the series takes us back to 1985. A solid entry through and through. Replacing the usual framing story with snippets of what will become the final segment of the movie is an inspired choice. There are no bad segments to weigh down the overall package here. There also is no true standout piece among the set.
A talented group of directors offer up some 80s looking fun. Dreamkill from Scott Derrickson is one of the more ambitious segments the series has showcased. It’s begging for the feature length treatment afforded Kids vs. Aliens and Siren. No Wake/Ambrosia mess with the format to some fun and unexpected results. The rest of the set is more standard fare…but again, not a true miss in the bunch.
This series still has legs over a decade later. Hopefully we haven’t seen the last of it.
Read our full review
Streaming on Shudder
4. V/H/S/99
Party Like It’s…Well…You Know…
V/H/S/99 fires out fun on all cylinders. No segment in the V/H/S series has more fun than Joseph and Vanessa Winters’ To Hell and Back. It delivers pure manic joy from start to finish and allows V/H/S/99 to end with a bang.
The rest of the segments are more hit than miss too. While Shredding and The Gawkers have flaws…they both end up putting you in a fun place by the end thanks to twists in the story. Suicide Bid is a great addition to the V/H/S family and Ozzy’s Dungeon is a weird revenge fueled segment destined to become a favorite.
To top it off…V/H/S/99 makes the smart choice to not bog itself down with a framing story. After four movies where the overriding story was never more than, at best, the second worst part of the movie…it was a welcome change that allowed the pacing of V/H/S/99 to never drop. Ranking V/H/S/99 in the middle doesn’t mean it doesn’t contend for the most fun entry in the franchise.
3. V/H/S
Proof of Concept
That the original V/H/S ranks this high is kind of incredible. There is a lot of trial and error in the first entry in the series. The filmmakers do a good job delivering memorable segments even if the overall package suffers from bloat and noise. The framing story here features loud, annoying characters that you want to see meet their demise. Good news…it ends up satisfying that at least.
As for the segments, there is only one real downer in the bunch. Second Honeymoon just doesn’t quite work. The rest of the package does, however. Four good, flaws and all, segments make for a lot to enjoy in V/H/S. 10/31/98 and Amateur Night highlight a strong group.
The main takeaway from watching the V/H/S is that the concept has merit. Found footage anthology sounds like a dangerous idea on paper…but the inaugural movie showed it could work. The follow up movies, largely, continued to hold the bar that V/H/S set.
Streaming on Peacock
2. V/H/S/94
Back on Track
The series took a break after V/H/S: Viral but was resurrected 7 years later by Shudder. Thankfully, the series not only got back on track with V/H/S/94…it delivered a series best entry. Ranking V/H/S/94 first is completely down to personal preference. Other than Viral every entry can lay a claim.
Another forgettable framing story welcomes us back, but it doesn’t take long for the movie to take flight once we are into the segments proper. Storm Drain and The Empty Wake make for a hell of a one-two punch to start an anthology. In different ways they both represent what V/H/S can be when it’s at its peak. Creepy, weird, memorable and effective. Speaking of weird…The Subject is another fine entry in the “goes off the rails” section of the V/H/S store. Only Terror disappoints despite its somewhat clever ideas.
The main thing that elevates V/H/S/94 is a group of directors who understood the assignment. Viral lacked that to the point where an entire segment was cut for not even being found footage. Despite its positioning on this ranking…if you wanted to argue that 94 is anywhere from the best entry of the series to the second worst…I wouldn’t argue with you. That’s how consistent the top 4 entries of V/H/S are.
1. V/H/S/Beyond
Now with 92% more aliens
The latest installment of the V/H/S series is also its finest. From start to finish, no previous series entry can boast the level of quality that Beyond maintains. It still has a framing story that you can take or leave…but the five shorts contained within it are remarkably consistent. After seven films, the V/H/S franchise proves to have a lot more life in it. Even if it has to go out of this world to find it.
It’s first segment, Stork, is its best. A wild, FPS shooter style police investigation. They find, among other things, a zombie with a chainsaw. It’s amazing. The rest of the tapes aren’t too shabby either. Fur Babies, Live and Let Dive, Dream Girl and Stow Away can be ranked however you see fit. It’s down to personal preference when the quality is as consistently strong as V/H/S/Beyond presents.
Beyond also finds some creative ways to present its found footage that keeps things from getting monotonous. Each segment feels unique. There are some strong performances. Most importantly, there are plenty of wild sequences that the series does when it is humming at its best. If this is how good the seventh film is…bring on V/H/S/8. And beyond.
Read our V/H/S/Beyond review
Ranking V/H/S Segments
36. Dante the Great (V/H/S: Viral)
35. Vicious Circles (VHS: Viral framing story)
34. Holy Hell (V/H/S/94 framing story)
33. Abduction/Adduction (V/H/S/Beyond framing story)
32. Terror (V/H/S/94)
31. Tape 56 (V/H/S framing story)
30. Second Honeymoon (V/H/S)
29. Shredding (V/H/S/99)
28. Tape 49 (V/H/S/2 framing story)
27. TKNOGD (V/H/S/85)
26. Phase I Clinical Trials (V/H/S/2)
25. The Gawkers (V/H/S/99)
24. Slumber Party Alien Abduction (V/H/S/2)
23. Bonestorm (V/H/S: Viral)
22. God of Death (V/H/S/85)
21. Total Copy (V/H/S/85)
20. A Ride in the Park (V/H/S/2)
19. Fur Babies (V/H/S/Beyond)
18. Parallel Monsters (V/H/S: Viral)
17. Stow Away (V/H/S/Beyond)
16. Dream Girl (V/H/S/Beyond)
15. Ozzy’s Dungeon (V/H/S/99)
14. Tuesday the 17th (V/H/S)
13. The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger (V/H/S)
12. Live and Let Dive (V/H/S/Beyond)
11. No Wake/Ambrosia (V/H/S/85)
10. The Subject (V/H/S/94)
9. Suicide Bid (V/H/S/99)
8. Amateur Night (V/H/S)
7. Dreamkill (V/H/S/85)
6. The Empty Wake (V/H/S/94)
5. 10/31/98 (V/H/S)
4. Stork (V/H/S/Beyond)
3. Storm Drain (V/H/S/94)
2. To Hell and Back (V/H/S/99)
1, Safe Haven (V/H/S/2)
If you enjoyed this ranking of the V/H/S series, check out our rankings of Cabinet of Curiosities
