History Film / VHS

* Tape 56: The frame story. The criminals investigate the house to find the tape they're after, but things quickly grow more intense throughout the night.
* Amateur Night: Shane, Patrick, and Clint are three college guys planning to go out for a night on the town. With the help of some glasses concealing a camera, the guys plan videotaping their sexual encounters and posting it online as an amateur porn video. The trio end up getting more than they bargained for when they pick up Lily, a strange woman who seems to be oddly attached to Clint.
* Second Honeymoon: Married couple Sam and Stephanie go on a road trip to Arizona for their honeymoon, filming and documenting nearly everything along the way. Later that night, Sam is asked by a strange and awkward woman to give her a ride somewhere the next day, though he turns her down. While the couple sleep, they are unknowingly stalked by the mysterious woman.
* Tuesday the 17th: Wendy, Joey, Samantha, and Spider are a group of twenty-somethings who travel to a nearby forest, using a camera to film their shenanigans. Suddenly, the group are stalked and killed one by one by a murderous entity covered in tracking errors that can only be viewed via camera. Wendy also seems to have some connection to the entity, as well as ulterior motives for her so-called friends.
* The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily [[LongTitle When She Was Younger]]: In a segment told entirely through video chats, Emily, talking to her long-distance boyfriend James, believes that she is being plagued by paranormal phenomena, reminding her of a strange accident that occurred in her youth. While she aims to figure out just what the source of the apparent hauntings is, the truth turns out to be much stranger.
* 10/31/98: On Halloween 1998, Tyler, dressed as a nanny cam, and his friends Chad, Matt, and Paul, head out to a Halloween party at a friend's house. When they arrive at the house hosting it, they discover that it is abandoned. As they explore the house, ghostly activity begins occurring. At first, the guys think that everything is part of an authentic haunted house attraction, but the scares soon become all too real... especially once they reach the attic.

* {{Jerkass}}: Everyone in the segment.

* Tape 56: The frame story. The criminals investigate the house to find the tape they're after, but things quickly grow intense throughout the night.
* Amateur Night: Shane, Patrick, and Clint are three college guys planning on going out for a night on the town. With the help of some glasses concealing a camera, they guys plan videotaping their sexual encounters and posting it online. The trio end up getting more than they bargained for when they pick up Lily, a strange woman who seems to be oddly attached to Clint.
* Second Honeymoon: Married couple Sam and Stephanie go on a road trip to Arizona for their honeymoon, filming and documenting nearly everything along the way. Later that night, Sam is asked by a mysterious stranger to give them a ride somewhere the next day, though he turns them down. While the couple sleep, they are unknowingly stalked by the mysterious stranger.

* The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily [[LongTitle When She Was Younger]]: In a segment told entirely through video chats, Emily, talking with her long-distance boyfriend James, believes that she is being plagued by paranormal phenomenon, reminding her of a strange accident that occurred in her youth. While she aims to figure out just what the source of the apparent hauntings is, the truth turns out to be much stranger.
* 10/31/98: On Halloween 1998, Tyler, dressed as a nanny cam, and his friends Chad, Matt, and Paul, head out to a Halloween party at a friend's house. When they arrive at the house hosting it, they discover that it is abandoned. As they explore the house, ghostly activity begins occurring. At first, the guys think that everything is part of an authentic haunted house attraction, but the scares soon become all too real.

* DownerEnding: "Tape 56" ends with [[spoiler: every single member of the group dead at the hands of the "dead" man. That said, given that they're textbook examples of {{Asshole Victim}}s, it's hard to feel much sympathy for them.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Everyone in the movie except for Emily in "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger", and the guys in "10/31/98", who are merely GenreBlind.
* JitterCam: Throughout. And given what the protagonists of each segment are facing, very, ''very'' [[JustifiedTrope justified]].
* LetsSplitUpGang: While it's mostly averted, the protagonists here fall into this with predictable results.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Lily from "Amateur Night" is fairly cute, if slightly creepy. [[spoiler:When she transforms, not so much.]]

* BodyHorror: Lily starts out with scales on her feet, which [[NotDistractedByTheSexy only Clint notices]], and as things get worse she gets a strange maw-like crease down her face. [[spoiler:At the end, she goes outright OneWingedAngel.]]
** Lily's head bump thing is a lot more natural looking in ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]''.

* CameraAbuse: The last shot suggests that the cameraman's camera glasses fall off and hit the ground [[spoiler:after Lily swoops down and carries him off]].

* EvenEvilHasStandards: A minor one. Shane wasn't outright evil, but his intentions for the night certainly were less than honorable, since the plan was to film the sexual intercourse without the girl's knowledge. But once Lisa falls unconscious in drunken stupor, he stops his attempts with her. The group may be voyeurs, but they draw the line at rape.
* FanDisservice: We get to see Lily, fully nude, going down on a guy... [[spoiler:''after'' having turned into a monster, and covered in the blood of his friends. What's more, she's actually quite hurt that he's terrified rather than aroused.]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Last we see of Clint, the poor guy's being carried off somewhere by Lily, screaming the entire time.]]

** Right as Clint approaches Lily and Shane to talk Shane out of having sex with her, [[spoiler: there are two long bruises on either side of her spine, foreshadowing her wings coming out at the end to carry Clint off]].
** There are also a number of ''very'' brief glimpses of her following them into the club, then eying Clint from afar before she approaches him.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:The two douchiest guys get killed by Lily, while the (nicer) third is carried away by her. It's vague what happens to him afterward, due to her apparent interest in him combined with his rejection of her.]]

* MeaningfulName: Lily from "Amateur Night" has a name that sounds similar to, and is sometimes used as a diminutive form of, Lilith, [[spoiler: which happens to be the name of a mythological succubus]].

* SinisterSilhouettes: Played with in "Amateur Night". After Lily kills their friend the others flee into the bathroom, but realise they can't stay there. They emerge into the darkened hotel room to see a shadowy EldritchAbomination, but it's only Lily standing in an odd position.

* DomesticAbuse: Sam isn't the best of husbands to Stephanie. He pressures her to let him film her in a state of undress and complaining excessively when she refuses, he's possibly lying to her about who was at the door, he blames her for disappearing money, and he's generally passive-aggressive toward her. This works against him when [[spoiler: Stephanie decides to help her new lesbian lover murder him]].

* {{Mundanger}}: The only segment in any of the films in the series where there is most probably nothing supernatural or sci-fi going on. [[spoiler:The villains are a PsychoLesbian couple with nothing really abnormal about them aside from being AxCrazy.]]
** It's subtle, but the supernatural element may be: [[spoiler:That the fortune-telling machine completely accurately foretold the fates of Sam and Stephanie. And that might be what makes the tape belong in the series with the others.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Wendy, at first seeming to be the FinalGirl, actually led the rest of the group right into a trap.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Wendy gets disemboweled by the Glitch, perhaps even a ''second'' one, after she'd taken her friends to the woods to try and lure the Glitch out in the first place.]]
* ElectromagneticGhosts: The killer is invisible and can only show up on tape as interference.

* FinalGirl: Wendy [[spoiler:is a subverted example. She is the one responsible for all the deaths, as she lured her friends up to the mountains to use as bait to catch the killer.]]

** Wendy's comment that [[spoiler:the Glitch could be in two places at once. A few minutes later, she succeeds in killing the Glitch... only to be attacked and killed by a second Glitch a few moments later.]]
** FiveSecondForeshadowing: Samantha's offer to show Spider "something really disgusting" is this considering [[spoiler: the Glitch throws a knife through the back of her head moments later]], bordering on TemptingFate.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Wendy gets gutted by the killer after manipulating her friends into coming up to the mountain as bait to try and capture him.]]

* SheWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler:Wendy, who uses her friends as bait in order to kill the monster in the woods.]]
* TheVirus: The [[WordOfGod audio commentary]] for "Tuesday the 17th" suggests that those killed by the Glitch Monster become Glitch monsters themselves.

* BodyHorror: At first, Emily gets a small bump on her arm, which she suspects is from bruising. Later, she [[spoiler: digs inside her arm with a scalpel and a kitchen skewer after suspecting something in there]]. But the crowning moment has to be [[spoiler:the reveal that she's pregnant with an alien spawn... and it's heavily implied this isn't the first time. Also, the thing she thought was in her arm was real, and was specifically the tracker the aliens put in her.]]

* BookEnds: The segment with a webcam chat between the title character and James, in which Emily complains about her arm and undresses for the camera. [[spoiler:At the end, James switches to a different chat and has almost exactly the same conversation with a different girl, revealing that Emily isn't the only one who has experienced this.]] Also an example of HereWeGoAgain.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:James prevents the children from killing Emily. Though this may be for the sake of avoiding unnecessary police attention, he does show a degree of care for her.]]

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: [[spoiler: Emily]] is only a little curious [[spoiler: when she's fishing around in her arm with a steak fork.]]

* TrackingDevice: [[spoiler: The lump on Emily's arm]] turns out to be one of these.

* AlienGeometries: The house in "10/31/98" has this, and we get to see them actively shift.

* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: After the guys "save" the possessed girl from the exorcists, ghostly arms began reaching out of the walls and ceilings as they carry her out of the house.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The possessed girl causes the group to get trapped in their car on a level crossing and get hit by a train.]]

* TheNineties: Two of the four friends go out to the Halloween party dressed as contemporary news items, the Unabomber and the Nanny Cam.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]]'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and was released on October 6, 2021 through the streaming service Shudder. A fifth entry, ''[[Film/VHS99 V/H/S/99]]'', is set to debut on Shudder October 20, 2022 and a sixth film,, ''V/H/S/85'' is slated to release sometime in 2023.

In 2016, a feature length film based on the concept introduced in "Amateur Night", ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]'', was released, with Hannah Fierman reprising her role as [[ADayInTheLimelight Lily]].

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]]'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and was released on October 6, 2021 through the streaming service Shudder. A fifth entry, ''[[Film/VHS99 V/H/S/99]]'', is set to debut on Shudder October 20, 2022.

* BastardBoyfriend: Sam isn't the best of husbands to Stephanie. He pressures her to let him film her in a state of undress and complaining excessively when she refuses, he's possibly lying to her about who was at the door, he blames her for disappearing money, and he's generally passive-aggressive toward her. This works against him when [[spoiler: Stephanie decides to help her new lesbian lover murder him]].

* Tape 56: The frame story. The criminals investigate the house to find the tape they're after, but things become getting more and more intense.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]]'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and was released on October 6, 2021 through the streaming service Shudder. A fifth entry, ''Film/VHS99'', is set to debut on Shudder October 20, 2022.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]]'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and was released on October 6, 2021 through the streaming service Shudder.

* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: [[spoiler:Wendy, who uses her friends as bait in order to kill the monster in the woods.]]

* CameraAbuse: A splash of blood ends up on the camera and remains there for the rest of the segment.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:The two douchiest guys get killed by Lily, while the (nicer) third is carried away by her. It's vague what happens to him afterward, due to her apparent interest in him combined with his rejection of her.]]* * TheLoinsSleepTonight: A completely justified version, since [[spoiler: Clint's left arm ''just'' suffered a compound fracture while trying to flee from Lily, who tries to initiate a blowjob while coated in the blood of his friends]]. [[spoiler: To make no mention of those rows of sharp teeth that could snip his member in a blink, among other [[BodyHorror body horrors]].]]

* NothingIsScarier: Invoked here and there, but really, much of what happens has no explanation, or very sparse.* ShownTheirWork: Whether by accident or design, any time the video-cameras pass over a TV-screen, the screens flicker, which was common in the old [=CRTs=] shown in the movie.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]]'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and is slated for release on October 6, 2021.

* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: [[spoiler:Wendy, who uses her friends as bait in order to kill the monster in the woods.]]

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Lily from "Amateur Night" is fairly cute, if slightly creepy - [[spoiler: when she transforms, not so much.]]
* AlienAbduction: Strongly implied to be the cause of the events in "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger", coupled with [[spoiler: FaceFullOfAlienWingWong, given that James removes what looks to be a fetus from Emily's torso, just below the ribs]].
* AlienGeometries: The house in "10/31/98" has this.
* AllPartOfTheShow: The initial reaction of the protagonists in "10/31/98" when they [[spoiler: stumble upon an exorcism in the attic, gleefully chanting "Cast him down!"]] -- until they see the woman get smacked ''hard''. [[spoiler:In the alternate ending where they escape, they walk away thinking that everything they saw was just a particularly extreme and badass Halloween attraction.]]
* AllThereInTheManual: The audio commentary for "Tuesday the 17th" reveals a bit more about the nature of the Glitch, such as the fact that people killed by it become Glitch monsters themselves.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: The guys in "10/31/98" go back to save the poor captive girl. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, once they reach a [[RailroadTracksOfDoom railroad crossing]], [[FalseInnocenceTrick the favor is not returned]].]]
* ApocalypticLog: ''Every single'' segment, with the exception of [[spoiler:"The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger", in which nobody dies.]]
* ArcWords: "I like you."
** Made all the more meaningful by ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]'' and its revelation that [[spoiler: Lily's species mates for life]]
* AssholeVictim: While some of the characters in the vignettes fit, the ones in "Tape 56" take the cake. They're a bunch of thugs who spend their time vandalizing houses and forcibly pulling up girl's tops.
* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: In "10/31/98", after the guys "save" the possessed girl from the exorcists, ghostly arms began reaching out of the walls and ceilings as they carry her out of the house.
* BackFromTheDead: The dead man found by the group in "Tape 56", though we don't learn how.
* BastardBoyfriend: Sam from "Second Honeymoon" isn't the best of husbands to Stephanie (pressuring her to let him film her in a state of undress and complaining excessively when she refuses, possibly lying to her about who was at the door, blaming her for disappearing money and being passive-aggressive toward her). This works against him when [[spoiler: Stephanie decides to help her new lesbian lover murder him.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Some characters aren't as benign as they initially appear to be.
** [[spoiler: Wendy]] in "Tuesday the 17th".
** [[spoiler:James]] from "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger".
* BodyHorror: In ''Amateur Night" Lily starts out with scales on her feet, which [[NotDistractedByTheSexy only Clint notices]], and as things get worse she gets a strange maw-like crease down her face. [[spoiler: At the end she goes outright OneWingedAngel]]. This is also the subject of "The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger"; at first Emily gets a small bump on her arm, which she suspects is from bruising. Later she [[spoiler: digs inside her arm with a scalpel and a kitchen skewer after suspecting something in there]]. But the crowning moment has to be [[spoiler:the reveal that she's pregnant with an alien spawn... and it's heavily implied this isn't the first time.]]
** Lily's head bump thing is a lot more natural looking in ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]''.
* BookEnds: "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" opens with a webcam chat between the title character and James, in which Emily complains about her arm and undresses for the camera. [[spoiler:At the end, James switches to a different chat and has almost exactly the same conversation with a different girl, revealing that Emily isn't the only one who has experienced this]]. Also an example of HereWeGoAgain.
* BystanderSyndrome: In "Amateur Night", the hotel clerks don't let in a [[spoiler: man with an ''obviously'' broken arm]], condemning him to his fate.
* CameraAbuse:
** Every story ends with the camera operator murdered, and in a few the camera definitely gets destroyed (leading one to wonder how the old man got the tapes).
** In "Tuesday the 17th", [[spoiler:a splash of blood ends up on the camera and remains there for the rest of the segment.]]
** The last shot of "Amateur Night" suggests that the cameraman's camera glasses fall off and hit the ground [[spoiler:after Lily swoops down and carries him off]].
* CosmicHorrorStory: There's certainly implications of this trope at work in most of the stories, most noticably in "10/31/98" and "Tape 56".
* CrapsackWorld: If indeed all the tapes, including the ones from the sequel(s?) take place in the same world then everybody is screwed. You have malevolent [[spoiler:aliens]], ghosts, monster/ghost/demons that look like digital glitches; succubi; an insane cult that either [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan brought a rampaging demon into the world]] or [[FalseInnocenceTrick failed]] to [[HollywoodExorcism exorcise]] it; and what looks like a ZombieApocalypse, an [[EvilInc evil corporation]] (or at least [[NoOSHACompliance a neglectful one]]), and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking psycho lesbians.]]
** ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]'' takes this further - there's a SinisterMinister running a hedonistic business using demons that killed those who summoned them but failed to control them. There are enough demons running loose due to screwed-up summoning that ''someone can make a living off it''.
* CreepyChild: The [[spoiler:aliens in "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" look like this.]]
* CuteMonsterGirl: [[spoiler:Lily in "Amateur Night"]]. At least, at first.
* DeathBySex: "Amateur Night", due to the woman being a {{Horny Devil|s}}.

* DemonicPossession: In "10/31/98" and possibly in "Tape 56".

* DisproportionateRetribution: While Sam is a bit of a pushy jerk, nothing ever indicated that he was abusive towards his wife which makes [[spoiler: his murder rather excessive.]] She could have just asked for a divorce.
* ADogNamedDog: ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]'', reveals Lily is a "Lilith". True to the original filmmakers' intent; despite many viewers' assumptions, she never was intended to be either a succubus or anything from actual mythology.
* DownerEnding: Every single segment:
** "Tape 56" ends with [[spoiler: every single member of the group dead at the hands of the "dead" man (although given that they're textbook examples of AssholeVictim, it's hard to feel much sympathy for them).]]
** "Amateur Night" ends with [[spoiler:Clint being snatched away by Lily after he witnesses the gruesome demise of his friends.]]
** "Second Honeymoon" ends with [[spoiler:Sam's murder at the hands of the mysterious stalker, followed by the revelation that the latter is Stephanie's secret lover and that they'd both conspired to kill him.]]
** "Tuesday the 17th" ends with [[spoiler:Wendy being disemboweled by the Glitch - perhaps even a ''second'' one - after she'd taken her friends to the woods to try and lure the Glitch out in the first place.]]
** "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" ends with [[spoiler:James' [[{{Gaslighting}} manipulations convincing Emily that she's delusional]], and reveals that he and the aliens are experimenting on at least one other woman.]]
** "10/31/98" ends with [[spoiler: the possessed girl causing the group to get trapped in their car on a level crossing and get hit by a train.]]
* DullSurprise:
** James in "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger". Justified due to the fact that [[spoiler:he's in league with the aliens.]]
** When Gary finds [[spoiler: the bodies of his friends]], the appropriate reaction ''probably'' shouldn't be to laughingly say "Oh, fuck".
* DwindlingParty: The hooligans from "Tape 56" go missing one by one.
* EldritchLocation: The house in "10/31/98" definitely qualifies.

* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** From "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" there's [[spoiler:James, who prevents the children from killing Emily. Possibly subverted in that he may have been doing it for the sake of avoiding unnecessary police attention. But he does show a degree of care for her.]]
** A minor one on "Amateur Night". Shane wasn't outright evil, but his intentions for the night certainly were less than honourable, since the plan was to film the sexual intercourse without the girl's knowledge. But once Lisa falls unconscious in drunken stupor, he stops his attempts with her. The group may be voyeurs but they draw the line at rape.
* ElectromagneticGhosts: The killer in "Tuesday the 17th" is invisible and can only show up on tape as interference.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Samantha]] gets a knife through the back of the skull, and it pokes out an eye from behind.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: The old man in "Tape 56" constantly disappears from his seat, only to show up in the same spot after disposing of the body of whoever was left alone with him]].
* FalseInnocenceTrick: Possibly, in [[spoiler:"10/31/98,"]] if [[spoiler:the demon were escaping an [[HollywoodExorcism exorcism]] and not an instance of EvilInc, HijackingCthulhu as in ''Film/{{Siren|2016}}'']].
** [[{{Foreshadowing}} Alluded to]] in "Second Honeymoon." See {{Foreshadowing}}.
* FanDisservice: Bare breasts, buttocks, and male and female genitalia. All featured during disturbing pseudo-rape sequences or murders. In particular, there's Lily in "Amateur Night", whom we get to see, fully nude, going down on a guy...[[spoiler:''after'' having turned into a monster, and covered in the blood of his friends, though she's actually quite hurt that he's terrified rather than aroused.]] One of the last shots in "Second Honeymoon" is [[spoiler:Stephanie, in her bra, making out with her PsychoLesbian lover... while there is blood all over the latter's hands. ''Sam's'' blood]].
* FateWorseThanDeath:
** [[spoiler:Last we see of Clint from "Amateur Night", poor guy's being carried off somewhere by Lily, screaming the entire time.]]
** Possibly also [[spoiler: Wendy, if her thrashing was that of a disembowelled woman in agony and not a side effect of becoming another Glitch]].
* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Wendy in "Tuesday the 17th", but it's subverted; she is the one responsible for all the deaths, as she lured her friends up to the mountains to use as bait to catch the killer.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** In "Second Honeymoon", Stephanie and Sam use an electronic fortune-telling machine, and by the end of the segment, both of their fortunes come true in a twisted way: [[spoiler: Sam gets a fortune about someone close to him not being trustworthy, and ends up betrayed and murdered by his wife. Stephanie gets one about having a happy reunion with someone, and she and her girlfriend leave together as {{Karma Houdini}}s]]. [[spoiler:Other arcs are]] referenced in the fortune card as well.
** The main characters in "10/31/98" have to stop at a railroad crossing on the way to the party. On the return trip, [[spoiler:the possessed woman they tried to rescue makes the car stall in the middle of the same railroad crossing, causing them to be hit by the oncoming train.]] They also tease one another about [[spoiler:people reaching out of the walls]] when they start to explore the house, and the guy dressed as a teddy bear nanny-cam finds the same torn-up teddy bear in two different rooms.
*** A lot of the vandalism committed by the FramingDevice gang in the vacant house at the film's beginning is similar to how the ''haunted'' house gets trashed as the "10/31/98" party-goers are trying to escape.
** The dead pig found by the characters in "Tuesday the 17th" [[spoiler:has its intestine draped over the ground, just like what happens to Wendy at the end]]. [[spoiler: Wendy's comment that the Glitch could be in two places at once. A few minutes later, she succeeds in killing the Glitch... only to be attacked and killed by a second Glitch a few moments later.]] Samantha's offer to show Spider "something really disgusting" is this considering [[spoiler: the Glitch throws a knife through the back of her head moments later]], bordering on TemptingFate.
* FoundFootageFilms
* FreezeFrameBonus: In "Amateur Night", right as Clint approaches Lily and Shane to talk Shane out of having sex with her, [[spoiler: there are two long bruises on either side of her spine, foreshadowing her wings coming out at the end to carry Clint off]]. There are also a number of ''very'' brief glimpses of her following them into the club, then eying Clint from afar before she approaches him. And after they arrive at the hotel room, it's shown twice that [[spoiler: her tongue is ''black'' - once when she licks Clint's cheek, and the second when she roars at Patrick's attempt to interrupt her]].
* {{Gaslighting}}: In "The Sick Thing that Happened to Emily When She Was Younger", [[spoiler:James turns out to be in league with the aliens and manages to successfully convince Emily that she's delusional.]]
* GenderEqualEnsemble: Mostly averted, but in "Tuesday the 17th" there are two guys and two girls.
* GroinAttack: A ''very'' horrifying version in "Amateur Night" when [[spoiler: Lily rips out '''all''' of Patrick's tackle]]. Thankfully, the guy was dead by this point.
* HornyDevils: In "Amateur Night" [[spoiler: Lily is a succubus-type creature]].
* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler: Every supernatural foe encountered]] fits this trope, but Lily and the Glitch stand out in terms of weirdness.
* {{Hypocrite}}: The vandals from the FramingDevice all laugh and celebrate as they trash some unsuspecting person's house, only to bitch about it when one of their own number smashes the TV set ''they'' happen to be watching.
* InterfaceScrew: Strongest in "Tuesday the 17th" as the killer's presence always makes the picture begin to break up, but ultimately used in all of them since non-professional footage almost always includes lag, freezing and pixelization. Noticeable as well in "The Sick Thing that Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" as they're using video chat, which is notorious for "cubing out". So naturally, it happens to Emily's image a couple of times. As one reviewer pointed out, the directors used this to their advantage by timing (probable) cuts with when the cassetes glitch, making it far more seamless than it otherwise would be.
* {{Jerkass}}:
** Everyone in the movie except for Emily in "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger", and the guys in "10/31/98", who are merely GenreBlind.
** Clint in "Amateur Night", considering that while he was [[SpyCam in on]] Patrick and Shane's little sexcapade, he [[TheLoinsSleepTonight wasn't]] ''[[AManIsAlwaysEager that]]'' desperate.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Wendy from "Tuesday the 17th" gets gutted by the killer after manipulating her friends into coming up to the mountain as bait to try and capture him.]] "Amateur Night" ends with [[spoiler: the two douchiest guys killed by Lily, while the (nicer) third is carried away by her; it's vague what happens to him afterward, due to her apparent interest in him combined with his rejection of her.]]
* LetsSplitUpGang: While it's mostly averted, the protagonists in "Tape 56" fall into this with predictable results.
* TheLoinsSleepTonight: A completely justified version in "Amateur Night", since [[spoiler: Clint's left arm ''just'' suffered a compound fracture while trying to flee from Lily, who tries to initiate a blowjob while coated in the blood of his friends]]. [[spoiler: To make no mention of those rows of sharp teeth that could snip his member in a blink, among other [[BodyHorror body horrors]]]].
* MacGuffinTitle: The framing device is based on finding a certain VHS tape.

* AManIsAlwaysEager: [[DefiedTrope Defied]] like hell by both Clint in "Amateur Night" and Joey in "Tuesday the 17th" - both are put-off by the circumstances (Clint's [[spoiler: broken arm and recently-murdered friends]] and Joey [[spoiler: being told a ''very'' flimsy excuse about the absence of their friends]] before being propositioned.).
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Lily from "Amateur Night" pops up frequently before she formally introduces herself, and "10/31/98" has no on-camera supernatural events for several minutes... except for a chair that seems to follow the cameraman.
* MeaningfulName: Lily from "Amateur Night" has a name that sounds similar to (and is sometimes used as a diminutive form of) Lilith, [[spoiler: which happens to be the name of a mythological succubus.]]
* MuggingTheMonster: Well, more like [[spoiler:''raping'' the monster, as Patrick in "Amateur Night" is bitten when he tries to initiate a threesome with Lily and Shane. This is pretty much when everybody begins to understand that Lily isn't just drunk or high, and is what sparks her complete transformation into...whatever she is.]]
* {{Mundanger}}: [[spoiler:"Second Honeymoon"]] is the only segment, counting the sequel, where there is most probably nothing supernatural going on. [[spoiler:The villains are a PsychoLesbian couple with nothing really abnormal about them aside from being AxCrazy]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: In "10/31/98" the four main characters interrupt an exorcism and "save" the possessed girl, allowing her to go free and kill them all.]] Given that [[spoiler: they came upon 4 men chanting something weird, surrounding a chained-up girl while one of them held a knife]], conclusion-jumping is pretty understandable.
* TheNineties: in "10/31/98", two of the four friends go out to the Halloween party dressed as contemporary news items, the Unabomber and the Nanny Cam.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: in "10/31/98", [[spoiler: those guys really shouldn't have gone back to rescue that girl.]]
* NoNameGiven:
** The killer in "Tuesday the 17th", referred to in the credits simply as, "[[CameraScrew The Glitch]]".
** The [[spoiler:aliens]] in "The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger".
* NothingIsScarier:
** Invoked here and there, but really, much of what happens has no explanation, or very sparse. Even in "Tape 56" the thugs aren't sure what they're looking for, or whose house this is. It's implied they don't even know who hired them. And we have no idea how or why [[spoiler:the dead old man comes BackFromTheDead]].
** In full force during "Second Honeymoon", when, after their encounter with a would-be hitch-hiker after dark, [[spoiler:said hitch-hiker is ''in their room'', recording them both with their own camera while wielding a switchblade]]. Nothing happens that night.
** Subverted in "10/31/98" which starts out with all the supernatural events happening off-camera (to the annoyance of the cameraman). Of course, that's because he thinks they're just haunted house effects.
* ObliviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Possibly Lily from "Amateur Night" and the aliens from "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger".]]
* OhCrap: Wendy in "Tuesday The 17th" when she realizes [[spoiler:the Glitch has used either OffscreenTeleportation to escape her carefully constructed trap, or that a second Glitch had found her]].
* OnlySaneMan: In "Amateur Night", Clint is the only one who notices something's... off with Lily. Quite ironic given that he's ''also'' the one she's most interested in.

* PsychoLesbian: The "twist" of "Second Honeymoon" is that [[spoiler:the stalker and the wife are in fact lovers who plotted to murder the latter's husband.]]
* RealityIsOutToLunch: For a brief but ''intense'' sequence, the house from "10/31/98" becomes the site of a rapid-fire example.
* RedRightHand: [[spoiler:Lily's creased forehead and deformed feet hint at her true form.]]
* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: [[spoiler:Wendy from "Tuesday the 17th", who uses her friends as bait in order to kill the monster in the woods.]]
* ShownTheirWork: Whether by accident or design, any time the video-cameras pass over a TV-screen, the screens flicker, which was common in the old [=CRTs=] shown in the movie.
* SinisterSilhouettes: Played with in "Amateur Night". After Lily kills their friend the others flee into the bathroom, but realise they can't stay there. They emerge into the darkened hotel room to see a shadowy EldritchAbomination, but it's only Lily standing in an odd position.
* SnuffFilm: [[spoiler:''All of them'' EXCEPT [[AvertedTrope "The Sick Thing that Happened to Emily When She Was Younger"]], in which nobody dies.]]
* StylisticSuck: It varies, but is most prominent during the wrap-around segment.
* TrackingDevice: [[spoiler: The lump on Emily's arm]] in the fourth storyline turns out to be one of these.
* TheVirus: The [[WordOfGod audio commentary]] for "Tuesday the 17th" suggests that those killed by the Glitch Monster become Glitch monsters themselves.
* TwistedAnkle: In a surprising [[JustForPun twist]], it happens twice to ''male'' horror movie protagonists. Both [[spoiler: Clint in "Amateur Night" and Gary in "Tape 56"]] took a tumble down the stairs running away from the villain in their respective segments, although one of them wound up with a broken arm instead.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lisa's fate in "Amateur Night". It is likely that she survived [[spoiler:since it seems that Lily is a succubus-like creature who only shows interest in men, plus the timeline of events doesn't really leave any space for Lily to kill Lisa]], but we have no visual confirmation.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The first thing [[spoiler:Lily]] does before she [[spoiler:goes on a rampage and abducts Clint to do who knows what to him]]? Sit in a corner and ''cry'' because he's not attracted to her. You almost forget that she's [[spoiler: a monster]], and even Clint apologizes... at least until her sobs turn into [[spoiler:demonic growls]]...
* {{Yandere}}: ''[[Film/Siren2016 Siren]]'' reveals [[spoiler: Lily to be this - she isn't a succubus, doesn't kill through sex, and really doesn't appreciate people trying to kill her mate, and she would've killed the protagonist's wife if he hadn't gone to live with her.]]

* AllPartOfTheShow: The initial reaction of the protagonists in "10/31/98" when they [[spoiler: stumble upon an exorcism in the attic, gleefully chanting "Cast him down!"]] - until they see the woman get smacked ''hard''.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: The guys in "10/31/98" go back to save the poor captive girl. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, once they reach [[RailroadTracksOfDoom railroad crossing]], [[FalseInnocenceTrick the favor is not returned]].]]

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled ''Film/VHS94'' completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and is slated for release on October 6, 2021.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A fourth entry titled V/H/S/94 completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and is slated for release on October 6, 2021.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014. A third entry titled V/H/S/94 completed principal photography during the COVID-19 pandemic and is slated for release on October 6, 2021.

A sequel titled ''[[{{Film/VHS2}} V/H/S/2 ]]'' was made in 2013, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It features shorts from Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Watch the teaser trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OOLoymvYQ here.]] A second sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014.

''V/H/S'' is a 2012 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn [=McQuaid=], Joe Swanberg, and Radio Silence.

** "Amateur Night" ends with [[spoiler:Clive being snatched away by Lily after he witnesses the gruesome demise of his friends.]]
** "Second Honeymoon" ends with [[spoiler:Sam's murder at the hands of the mysterious stalker, followed by the revelation that the latter is Stephanie's secret lover and that they'd both conspired to kill Sam.]]
** "Tuesday the 17th" ends with [[spoiler:Wendy being disembowelled by the Glitch - perhaps even a ''second'' one - after she'd taken her friends to the woods to try and lure the Glitch out in the first place.]]

* Tuesday the 17th: Wendy, Joey, Samantha, and Spider are group of twenty-somethings who travel to a nearby forest, using a camera to film their shenanigans. Suddenly, the group are stalked and killed one by one by a murderous entity covered in tracking errors that can only be viewed via camera. Wendy also seems to have some connection to the entity, as well as ulterior motives for her so-called friends.

* Tape 56: The frame story.

A group of hoodlums are hired by an unknown third party to burgle a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape. Upon arriving, they discover the dead body of the owner and stacks of videotapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last.

* Second Honeymoon: Married couple Sam and Stephanie go on a road trip to Arizona, filming and documenting nearly everything along the way. Shortly after, the couple are stalked by a mysterious stranger that seems to have ulterior motives.
* Tuesday the 17th: Wendy, Joey, Samantha, and Spider are group of twenty-somethings who travel to a nearby forest, using a videorecorder to film their shenanigans. Suddenly, the group are stalked and killed one by one by an entity covered in tracking errors that can only be viewed via videorecorder.
* The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily [[LongTitle When She Was Younger]]: In a segment told entirely through video chats, Emily, talking with her boyfriend James, believes that she is being plagued by paranormal phenomenon. While she aims to figure out just what the source of the apparent hauntings is, the truth turns out to be much stranger.
* 10/31/98: On Halloween 1998, Tyler, dressed as a nanny cam, and his friends Chad, Matt, and Paul, head out to a Halloween party at a friend's house. When they arrive at the house hosting it, they discover that it is abandoned. As they explore the house, ghostly activity begins occurring.

* Tuesday the 17th: Wendy, Joey, Samantha, and Spider are group of twenty-somethings who travel to a nearby forest, Using a videorecorder to film their shenanigans. Suddenly, the group are stalked and killed one by one by an entity covered in tracking errors that can only be viewed via videorecorder.

* 10/31/98: On Halloween 1998, a foursome of friends, Tyler, Chad, Matt, and Paul, head out to a Halloween party at a friend's house. When they arrive at the house hosting it, they discover that it is abandoned. As they explore the house, ghostly activity begins occurring.