V/H/S/2

~I want to start off by saying that V/H/S 2 is a huge step up from its predecessor. It delivers more chills, thrills, action, and what we enjoy most...FUN! I was completely thrown off when I first watched this movie. I didn't know it was going to be so insane. ~For the people who haven't seen the first V/H/S, basically the movies are about a bunch of 'found-footage' short horror stories played through VHS tapes by people in a house. While they are watching these VHS tapes, something spooky is also going on in the house as well that stretches through the whole movie giving you updates on what's happening in the between changing of tapes. Now let's get to the tapes which is the main focus of this film. I won't give super spoilers, but i'll just give brief description of each tape.

TAPE 1 - "Phase 1 Clinical Trials" This ghost story tape is the only one that made me jump a bunch of times. It will be the jump scare tape and that's what it heavily focuses on in scaring you. I enjoyed it for it's jump scares, but there is a questionable scene in there that doesn't make any sense, but luckily, I, a horror movie fanatic, knows that you aren't suppose to take horror movies that seriously or think SUPER deep about it. This one gets a... 8/10 (generous)

TAPE 2 - "A Ride in the Park" Ever wanted to see through the eyes of a zombie? Well this is your lucky short. This is a pretty cool zombie short. It could have been just a little bit better, but it is still pretty good thanks to a few awesome scenes in it. This one gets a... 7/10

TAPE 3 - "Safe Haven" This insane short is definitely the best out of the bunch. It is completely insane, bizarre, violent, and fun at the same time. Easily the most craziest, but enjoyable short I have ever experienced. If you see this film, make sure you watch this tape. It's long, but the crazy ending is worth it. This one gets a... 9.5/10

TAPE 4 - "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" Well, the title of the tape speaks for itself. This short gets pretty fun and intense, but the most noticeable aspect about this tape, is the unique way that it's filmed. The camera is actually attached to the back of a dog, so we see what the dog sees and I had to give a big thumbs up for that. It's pretty creative and actually works out well enough. This tape will have you wondering what the f**k is going on but keep you thoroughly entertained. This one gets a... 8/10

Wrap Around Tape/Frame Narrative - "Tape 49" As I said before, this is the story that plays on while the tapes are being watched. Two private investigators are searching for a missing college boy. They break into his house, search for him a little, then start to watch the tapes (which are the horror shorts) that he has. This story had a pretty clever twist in it that leads up to it's ending (which ends the whole film). This one gets a... 7/10

OVERALL - 8/10. It's fun, has some scares, is over-the-top violent and insane, and a lot better than the first one. V/H/S 1 fans will LOVE V/H/S 2 and horror fans will love this as well.

V/H/S/ 2 is a modern-day horror anthology featuring eclectic talent from the directors of THE RAID and YOU'RE NEXT amongst others. As with many modern horror anthologies, the emphasis is on outright blood and gore over scares, although there are attempts here to frighten as well as repulse the viewer. There are four tales in all, as well as a mildly diverting wraparound story involving a creepy old house and a VHS collection. Most of the material is shot POV style, which I enjoyed as a fan of the 'found footage' genre.

The first tale is a simple riff on THE EYE, as a guy gets a new-fangled optic implant that restores his sight but has the unwanted side effect of allowing him to see spirits at the same time. I love the introduction of the deaf girl with her own twist and this is by far the scariest of the film, with some really jumpy moments. It's all predictable, but that's okay.

The second tale is about a cyclist with a Go Pro camera mounted on his helmet. His trip through the woods is interrupted by a zombie attack, and what we get here is unending gore and bloodshed, some of the most gruesome you'll see. It's all pretty distasteful actually, and more than a little pointless.

The third story is the Indonesian one, contributed by THE RAID director Gareth Evans; as a huge fan of his films, it was the one I was most looking forward to. Evans doesn't disappoint; this is as intense as his action films, and the madcap plot line involves a doomsday cult and the birth of the Antichrist. It's exceptionally gory, delightfully obscure, and without a doubt the highlight of the whole thing.

The fourth and final story is weak by comparison. It tells of an attack by extraterrestrials on a group of redneck characters, who are all really dumb, but there's way too much of the shaky cam here and little real meat to the storyline. The dog is the most interesting character and you can guess what happens to that. V/H/S/ 2 isn't bad at all for fans of gory horror, but aside from the Indonesian segment it's all rather familiar.

There is one amazing segment of VHS 2 that has to do with a Cult. It is frenetic, gory, has a great story and makes the most of the "found footage" format. If the rest of the film had lived up to this one sequence, we would have had something special. It's better than Part One in most aspects, though I did like a few moments in that film.

Timo Tjahjanto really blew me away - his segment is imaginative and has some real shocks crammed into it's short running time. Some of the camera work is a bit too shaky as people run around, but I was able to get around that due to the intensity of the story. Out of the remaining short films, we get a return to full on Shaky Cam with Edwardo Sanchez (Blair Witch Project). Truthfully, Edwardo has ALWAYS got to shake the camera like he's in a runaway car or something. He seems to think this is a STYLE. I must argue the point. True artists do not need to shake a camera like a fool to get an image to move someone. Argento, Carpenter, Bava. Masters of the art. Dean Cundy would never run around like a fool, shaking his camera at every object he can find, disregarding the basic rules of directing at will, and no real professional should allow camera-work like this. What an artistic stretch for Edwardo. Next time just throw the damned thing on the ground and drag it around with a rope.

There are a few other sparks. Jason Eisener makes the most of his segment by having some real fun with it and throwing in an Alien Invasion that is both scary and funny. And I really enjoyed the basic idea and most of the execution of Adam Wingard's segment. Still, too damned much shaking here.

I am not sure I understand it really - why so much shaking in these "Found Footage" atrocities? I mean, the old camcorder videos that my family made at Holidays and on Vacation never looked like this. Grandpa tried to keep the camera still. I never actually have seen a home movie like these. Not even on old Super 8. Have you? Eyestrain central. For part 3, maybe they can just go to an old amusement park and give us a POV of the rides or jump out of a plane while filming. At least there'll be a legitimate reason for it being so damned shaky. I think I'd rather watch "HI-8" again.

V/H/S 2 manages to fix the faults of the first. It's shorter and takes the grungy, exploitative snuff film tone of V/H/S and adds more excitement and humor. The quality of the shorts this time around are much more consistent, but they are still a mixed bag. The first short "Phase I: Clinical Trials" is average at best, but it mixed in a bit of humor which I liked. "A Ride in the Park" was fantastic and incredibly unique in it's use of the first person POV. It was my favorite of the four segments. "Safe Haven" is a close second with countless WTF moments. I would have loved a feature length version of this one. The weakest entry was the last, "Slumber Party Alien Abduction". It ineffectively used loud noises and bright lights to generate scares and it just didn't work for me. The wrap around story "Tape 49" was good, but I liked the ambiguity of the first films "Tape 56" better. V/H/S 2 added fun to the series and I hope these films continue.

V/H/S 2 is the sequal of V/H/S which is an anthology about people finding tapes, about otherworldly events. V/H/S 2 is an improvement over the first one, in basically every aspect. The stories and the events are more brutal and entertaining and some of them, are very great and absolute movie materials. The ending one is my favourite but the bicycle one with the zombies is also great. V/H/S 2 is bloody, gory and funny sometimes and it can give you chills while make you feel entertained. The whole tape thing is explained too, giving them some mystery element that there are several of them and some people just collect these. I really wanted V/H/S to be the next big thing, but the third one makes me so sad. It was really bad, compared to this.

All in all, V/H/S 2 is a great movie with great stories. I can recommend the first and the second one, but the third one is not that great.