Ashot-on-video (SOV)film,^[1][2] also known as ashot-on-VHS film^[3][4] or acamcorder film,^[2] is a film shot usingcamcorders and consumer-grade equipment, as opposed tofilm stock or high-enddigital movie cameras.

The first theatrically-released films shot on videotape pre-date the invention of the camcorder and related consumer video technology, starting with theElectronovision process developed by film producer and entrepreneur H. William "Bill" Sargent, Jr. around 1964.^[5] Electronovision used conventional analogImage Orthicon-based studio video cameras (RCA TK-60 cameras in Electronovision's case), recording video from them to anAmpex high-band2" Quadraplex-format video tape recorder (VTR), all configured to use the black-and-white819-line interlaced 25 frame per second (FPS) video standard, used in France for TV broadcasting at the time. The videotaped 819-line footage was then edited, with the final cut being transferred from tape to film stock via akinescope process. The 819-line video standard was chosen by Electronovision over the regular525-line 30 FPS video standard in use in the US at the time, due to its higher resolution and closer frame rate to motion picture film's 24 FPS, making it a better fit for transfer to film.

A few films were shot and released using the Electronovision process, such asThe TAMI Show, (1964),^[6]Hamlet (1964),^[7] andHarlow (1965).^[8]

Around 1969, The Vidtronics Company, a division ofTechnicolor, had also developed a process for transferring color videotape to film, this time using standard 525-line NTSC color video gear. To demonstrate the potential of their process, they producedThe Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971).^[9] The picture was shot by the crew from the TV seriesDeath Valley Days, transferred and processed by Technicolor, and distributed by a Technicolor subsidiary,Gold Key Entertainment. It was not successful in theatres, but was frequently shown in TV syndication and 16mm rentals.

Other films using Vidtronics' tape-to-film process wereWhy? (1971), and200 Motels (1971), the latter being shot using the 625-line PAL color video standard atPinewood Studios in the UK.

In 1973, Hollywood actor/producerEd Platt, made famous by his role as "The Chief" in theNBC-TV seriesGet Smart, raised the money to produceSantee, starringGlenn Ford. Platt saw the advantages of using videotape over film, and used the facilities of Burbank's Compact Video Systems to shoot the western on location in the California and Nevada deserts. The motion picture was shot with Norelco PCP-70 portable plumbicon NTSC cameras and portable Ampex VR-3000 2" VTRs, then transferred to film atConsolidated Film Industries in Hollywood. The film was not commercially successful.

Shot-on-video films became more common in the wake of the release ofSony's professional-gradeBetacam and consumer-gradeBetamovie camcorders in 1983.^[10][11] Many shot-on-video films werelow-budget^[12] and belong to thehorror genre. Filmmaker siblings thePolonia brothers were known for their shot-on-video horror films, such asSplatter Farm (1987) andFeeders (1996).^[2][11]

The scenes inBill Gunn's 1980 filmPersonal Problems were shot using avideocassette recorder which was a new technology at the time (as most previous films were shot usingfilm stock).^[13]

The 1994documentary filmHoop Dreams^[14] was one of the first shot-on-video documentaries to receive a wide theatrical release.^[15] The 1999 filmThe Blair Witch Project was shot on both16 mm film and the consumer-gradeHi8 video format, which was transferred to film for its national theatrical release.^[15] An international example isDanish filmmakerLars von Trier'sminimalist filmThe Idiots (1998; akaDogme #2).^[11]

• 200 Motels (1971)^[16][17]
• Mayday Raw 1971 (1971)^[18]
• Adland (1974)^[19]
• Lord of the Universe (1974)^[20]
• The Police Tapes (1977)^[21]
• Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)^[22]
• The Reflecting Pool (1979)^[23][24]
• Boardinghouse (1982)^[25][26]
• Possibly in Michigan (1983)^[27][28]
• Sledgehammer (1983)^[1][2][29]
• TheEmmy Award-winningSpecial Bulletin (1983)^[30]
• Suffer Little Children (1983)^[31]
• Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984)^[32][33]
• Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1984)^[34]
• Blood Cult (1985)^[2][25][26]
• The Ripper (1985)^[35][36]
• Cards of Death (1986)^[37][26]
• Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986)^[38][39]
• Tales from the QuadeaD Zone (1987)^[40][1][32]
• Video Violence (1987)^{[1][2][41][25]}
• 555 (1988)^[1][2]
• Rob Nilsson'sSundance-winningHeat and Sunlight (1988)^[42][43]
• Tongues Untied (1988)^[44]
• Woodchipper Massacre (1988)^[1][2]
• Citizen Tania (1989)^[45][46]
• The McPherson Tape (1989)^[2][47]
• Sir Drone (1989)^[48]
• Bossy Burger (1991)^[49][50]
• Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees (1991)^[51]
• The controversial 1992BBC OneTV movieGhostwatch^[47]
• Heidi, Midlife Crisis Trauma Center and Negative Media-Engram Abreaction Zone (1992)^[52][53]
• Ozone (1993)^[54]
• Conrad Brooks vs. the Werewolf (1994)^[1]
• Without Warning (1994)^[55]
• Polymorph (1996)^[54]
• Bloodletting (1997)^[54][56]
• Ernest Borgnine on the Bus (1997)^[57]
• Premutos (1997)^[29]
• Rollergator (1997)^[58]
• Jan-Gel: The Beast from the East (1999)^[1]
• TheAcademy Award nominatedGenghis Blues (1999)^[59]
• August Underground (2001)^[47]
• Gozu (2003)^[26]
• TheColumbine-inspiredvideo diaryZero Day (2003)^[47]
• Each Time I Kill (2007)^[1]
• Harmony Korine'sTrash Humpers (2009)^[1][11]

BothTongues Untied andHoop Dreams are inducted into theNational Film Registry.^[60]

Possibly in Michigan first gained notoriety on social media in 2015, and has gained popularity amongGen Z teens.^[61][62]

Some SOV films likeFeeders,Things (later to be known as one ofthe worst movies of all time) andRollergator were spoofed byRiffTrax, consisting of formerMystery Science Theater 3000 alumniKevin Murphy,Bill Corbett andMichael J. Nelson.^[63][64]

Heavy Metal Parking Lot was positioned at #67 byRolling Stone on their list of 70 greatest music documentaries.^[65]

• 480i, the video mode used for standard-definition digital video
• Analog horror
• Found footage (film technique)
• Cinéma vérité
• Snuff film
• Mockumentary
• Postmodernist film and television
• Video art
• Vulgar auteurism
• Video essay

• Albright, Brian (2012).Regional Horror Films, 1958–1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews.McFarland & Company.ISBN 978-0786472277.

• Coleman, Robin R. Means (2022).Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present (Second ed.).Routledge. p. 226.ISBN 978-0367704407.
• Mogg, Richard (2018).Analog Nightmares: The Shot On Video Horror Films of 1982–1995. RickMoe Publishing.ISBN 978-1999481704.