Is V/H/S (2012) scary?

Not particularly — V/H/S (2012)'s appeal is atmospheric or thematic rather than overtly scary. As a found footage film, it scored 3.0/10 for fear, 7.0/10 for atmosphere, and 7.1/10 overall on Watch Darkly's curator scale across 1 rating.

How many jump scares are in V/H/S (2012)?

V/H/S (2012) has 7 jump scares, based on its logged jump-scare count.

What age is V/H/S (2012) appropriate for?

V/H/S (2012) is rated R. Watch Darkly does not assign its own age rating, so here is what the film actually contains. On Watch Darkly's curator scale it scored 3.0/10 for fear, 6.0/10 for gore, and 6.0/10 for intensity, where 10 is the most extreme in the catalog. It has 7 jump scares. Content warnings on file: domestic violence, self harm, and sexual violence.

What are some films like V/H/S (2012)?

Films similar to V/H/S (2012) on Watch Darkly include The Bay (2012), ノロイ (2005), selected by shared themes and tags plus the curator scoring across fear, gore, atmosphere, intensity, and overall quality.

Metadata and artwork from TMDB. Not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

found-footage

V/H/S

2012 · R · 1h 56m

This collection is killer.

When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire one rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they had bargained for.

Plot summary via TMDB

Release & where to watch

In theaters: October 5, 2012

Where to watchUS, as of Aug 22, 2026

Included with a subscription: fuboTVPhiloMagnolia Selects Amazon ChannelMonsters and Nightmares Amazon Channel
Rent or buy: Amazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTubeFandango At HomeFlixFling
Free with ads: The Roku ChannelFandango at Home FreeXumo Play
Free: KanopyHoopla

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Curator Score

7.1

Overall

Based on 1 curator rating · How we score

Anchored by atmosphere.

Jump scares

V/H/S has 7 jump scares. Compare counts

Age suitability

V/H/S is rated R. Watch Darkly does not assign its own age rating. It scored 3.0/10 for fear and 6.0/10 for gore, and carries 3 content warnings: domestic violence, self harm, and sexual violence.

Add your rating

7.1Overall

Fear3.0

Gore6.0

Atmosphere7.0

Intensity6.0

Genres

horrorthriller

Details

Budget$242,000

Box office$100,345

Directed by

David Bruckner, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Justin Martinez, Adam Wingard, Chad Villella, Tyler Gillett, Joe Swanberg, Glenn McQuaid, Ti West

Written by

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Ti West, David Bruckner, Nicholas Tecosky, Simon Barrett, Chad Villella, Glenn McQuaid, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez

Cinematography

Adam Wingard, Eric Branco, Tyler Gillett, Michael J. Wilson, Victoria K. Warren, Justin Martinez, Andrew Droz Palermo

Starring

Calvin Lee Reeder as Gary (segment "Tape 56") · Lane Hughes as Zak (segment "Tape 56") · Kentucker Audley as Rox (segment "Tape 56") · Adam Wingard as Brad (segment "Tape 56") · Simon Barrett as Steve (segment "Tape 56") · Andrew Droz Palermo as Fifth Thug (segment "Tape 56") · Joe Swanberg as Sam (segment "Second Honeymoon") · Sophia Takal as Stephanie (segment "Second Honeymoon")

Production

8383 Productions, Bloody Disgusting, The Collective

Reviews

blessedmakerCurator

Jun 15, 2026

Overall7.1Fear3Atmos.7Gore6

Anthology format, I liked 2 out of the 5 personally. There's going to be at least one story here that you'll like, probably, assuming you're into horror (why are you here if not?). No barriers being broken here, nothing exactly new to the found footage subgenre.

Read all reviews