Inside a darkened house looms a column of TVs littered with VHS tapes, a pagan shrine to forgotten analog gods. The screens crackle and pop endlessly with monochrome vistas of static white noise permeating the brain and fogging concentration. But you must fight the urge to relax: this is no mere movie night. Those obsolete spools contain more than just magnetic tape. They are imprinted with the very soul of evil.
Gary Binkow Kimo Stamboel Rob Cotterill Roxanne Benjamin Chris Harding Kyle David Crosby Brad Miska Jamie Nash
VHS 2, S-VHS, VHS 2 - Las Crónicas del Miedo 2, V.H.S. 2 - S-VHS, ЗЛО 2, V/H/S ネクストレベル, 2 קלטת וידיאו, Tape 49, Phase I Clinical Trials, A Ride in the Park, Safe Haven, Slumber Party Alien Abduction, V.H.S. 2, V/H/S 2, З/Л/О 2, Dehşet Kaseti, S-VHS aka. V/H/S/2, 致命录像带2, קלטת וידאו 2, V/H/S/2: 악마를 부르는 비디오, ВХС 2, VHS: Las crónicas del miedo 2, Видеокасета 2, Vaizdajuostė 2, 索命影帶2
USANR
Sundance Film Festival
USANR
UK18
Germany18
Switzerland18
JapanR18+
USANR
Germany
Japan
Switzerland
UK
USA
Even though I liked the first installment more than most, it's safe to say that V/H/S 2 bested the original by both fixing some problems and bringing a stronger set of stories.
The wraparound is again the weakest of the bunch, but this time there is at least a story to it.
Adam Wingard's Clinical Trials Phase 1 is easily the next weakest, but still enjoyable enough.
I thought Eduado Sanchez' zombie entry was, despite running a bit too long, quite funny and played its concept out well.
Safe Haven, from The Raid director Gareth Evans, is arguably the best. The guy who plays the cult leader is awesomely creepy, and when the shit finally hits the fan I was…
"papa."
replaces the faux-snuff dread of the original with a wicked sense of camp, and the emphasis on sick humor over horror fights the concept, and doesn't really allow the whole thing to hang together. aside from a pretty great twist, the wraparound doesn't have nearly the dark energy of the first film, and the first and final segments are total busts (especially the final one. woof).
but the 2nd bit is sufficiently clever (and perhaps the only bit in either of these films that isn't explicitly about men indulging in their worst natures and being punished for their sexuality), and then... AND THEN... "Safe Haven." the third bit. holy shit. so gloriously go-for-broke demented. have a feeling i'll be showing that one to people for a long time to come.
anyone else noticing the fucking blinding misogyny in this franchise or is that just me
Holy hell, the Safe Haven segment just had to fuck shit up. Every segment was fun and unique in its own way, but V/H/S 2 is worth a watch for the Safe Haven segment alone.
I’m a sucker for found-footage flicks.
Okay, well, it seems I am in sort of the minority on this one as suprisingly everyone calls this film an improvement over the first one, which I slightly disagree. Don't get me wrong, the core story that sticks everything together is much better (more on that on my breakdown), but something about the stories didn't hit me as much as in the previous installment. Also technically this is the third film which I fainted for all the gore, I say "technically" because once I went and drink me some water I was back on track - though the movie could argue it made me sweat of fear to the point of dehydration.... anyways, on to our breakdown.
Fifth place:…
Well wasn't this a bundle of fun!
As far as anthologies go, this not only surpasses the first part, but it is also better than most recent outings. But this is not only an anthology, it is also part of the dreaded found footage genre, a genre I don't dislike but one that is frought with danger. Even though not all five stories are consistent in quality, they all manage to avoid the found footage pitfalls pretty well. I'll run them down one by one.
Tape 49
The wraparound story and, like in the first one, the weakest. People watching tapes, shenanigans in the background, a tiny bit more explanation of the backstory, bit of gore and that's it. It…
Film #22 in The June Challenge
Every once in awhile a film comes out that defines it's genre; V/H/S/2 is that type of film. The found-footage horror genre has been one of the most popular in recent years because of their cost:profit ratio. This has resulted in some incredibly lazy films that are only produced in this format for the sake of being inexpensive, and very rarely is the found-footage concept used to its full potential. The most important aspect that a found-footage horror film needs for it to work is atmosphere. Found-footage simply does not work if the situation that the characters are in feels safe (see: the Paranormal Activity series).
V/H/S/2 is one of the greatest found-footage horror…
