V/H/S 2
Rated R, 96 minutes
I like horror anthology films, especially when they’re done
right like “Creepshow” or “Trick ’r Treat.” Even though I’ve become tired of
the found footage genre, I enjoy last year’s “V/H/S,” which is why I was
excited when a sequel was announced. And boy did it not disappoint, as I
actually liked this version better than its predecessor.
Once again
we have four stories, with a wrap around story dealing with a private
investigator (who we see at the beginning of the film tape a man cheating on
his wife) that breaks into a house, looking for a missing man. Instead he and
his girlfriend find a wall of monitors with a number of tapes. As he begins
searching the house, she starts watching the tapes and we’re off.
(Spoilers Ahead)
Cyber eye guy was my least favorite of the stories
The first
segment, directed by Adam Wingard (“V/H/S” and “The ABC’s of Death”), is called
“Phase I Clinical Trials” and deals with a guy who lost his eye in a car wreck
and has it replaced with a bionic eye that records everything. The idea is
cool, but the scares are not. He soon starts seeing ghostly figures appear and
soon a hot goth girl stops by to tell him that mechanical senses cause you to
see or hear or smell dead people, because she used to be deaf and after getting
her hearing aid she can hear them. Anyway, she gets naked, they have sex and
then some bad stuff happens. This was my least favorite segment of the film and
I was a bit worried that they decided to start off with this one.
Zombiecam gives you the attack point of view
The second
segment, directed by Gregg Hale and Eduardo Sanchez (“The Blair Witch
Project”), is called “A Ride In The Park,” and it offers a nice twist on the
tired zombie genre. A guy is out for a leisurely bike ride with a camera
attached to his helemtn, when a woman comes running out of the woods and stops
him. She asks for help but soon begins vomiting and when the bike rider goes to
help her, she attacks him as she has turned into a zombie. He stumbles a few
100 feet before collapsing and appears to die. A bike riding couple stumbles
across him lying there and as soon as they try to help him he attacks them,
biting them both. The rest of the story is a first-person zombie cam, as he
attacks people and interrupts a kid’s birthday party. This story had a great
idea and I thought it tied with the fourth segment as the second best of the
film.
There is something wrong with that baby
The third
segment, directed by Gareth Evans (“The Raid”) and Timon Tjahjanto “Macabre,”
“The ABC’s of Death”), is called “Safe Haven” and was my favorite of the film.
The story follows a news crew in Indonesia that heads to a cult compound to
discover the beliefs and practices of this group. But things go horribly wrong
and soon people are committing mass suicide, exploding and birthing demons.
This segment was totally different than expected and gave me the creeps for
days, which is why it was my favorite.
It's all fun and games until aliens show up
The final
segment, directed by Jason Eisner (“Hobo With A Shotgun”), almost took the
title as my favorite, but it lacked the pure evil of “Safe Haven.” The story
follows a group of kids whose parent’s head out of town, leaving them under the
rule of their older sister. She has friends come over and soon the boys are
attacking their sister and her friends and taping them. But the fun quickly
ends when aliens attack, picking off the kids one-by-one, as a small camera on
the back of the family dog catches the footage. The story offers plenty of jump
scares and tension, but the alien’s look a little hokey, which took me out of
the tension.
Along with
the wrap around story, “V/H/S 2” offers plenty of chills and thrills for fans
of the genre and I can’t wait for a third installment!
Remember, everyone at the same time, ok?
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