V/H/S/2 (2013)

Disappointment for a huge fan!

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

So I decided to write a review..First of all, how the hell is this rated higher than the proceeder?I had seen the first one last week with a friend, and as I was having another movie night yesterday with the same friend, I decided that it'd be good to start of with the sequel, since the first one had us pretty entertained throughout.Boy was I wrong.This is why most sequels are never better than the first, because they are either just odd, don't live up to the first one, or are just outright crap.This movie is not even as good as the first, and even the worst short of the first installment is way better than any in this one..TAPE 1 - "Phase 1 Clinical Trials" This is the first short, which just doesn't make sense and is only depending on loud sounds and sudden appearances to make you jump. It doesn't even explain why all that happens.TAPE 2 - "A Ride in the park" This was the second short, and was just outright weird. Really? Zombies? It looked like a spoof or something that didn't take itself seriously, which is clearly the wrong impressionTAPE 3 - "Safe Haven" probably the best out of all the shorts, only because it started off creepy. Well Asians and little kids are normally a creepy mix, but what it climaxed into was just plain stupid. Really? A fake looking goat monster :/ rightttt. All that build up for that. PftTAPE 4 - "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" this one was alright, since it was a quick paced short, but that doesn't make it excellent, just fast paced, meaning you have to pay attention. Not as bad as the first two, but still mehhhWrap Around Tape/Frame Narrative - "Tape 49" - the shot of the room while the person puts a VHS in was probably the creepiest part from th film, because you half expect someone or something to jump out due to the angle, but yeah, nothing as such... Well until the very end, but still not even scary, just weird..If Im being really critical, forgive me, but the expectation I had going in to this was even better than the first, especially with the ratings here, but man is that a disappointment. Guess I should stick to my own rule of only seeing reviews/ratings AFTER I see the movie. My friend agreed that this was such a time wasting movie, and was only further dumbfounded as I mentioned this was rated higher than the first. HaThe first at least had good (stretched out shorts) and characters that we could actually sort of care about.Blood and gore (which is more in this one) doesn't make a movie scary(ier). It just makes it gross

A couple of private detective's have been hired to find a missing teen. Their investigation leads them to a seemingly empty house, where upon they discover a pile of old VHS tapes and a laptop which has a recording made by the missing teen. They start watching through the tapes but instead of finding possible clues as to the missing boy's location, they find recordings of much more sinister events.This is another POV film and just like the 1st (and where the relation ends), several smaller films are entwined into the the main story. Those are...1) a man has groundbreaking eye surgery but starts witnessing disturbing images 2) a cyclist becomes the victim of a horrible attack 3) an investigation into a cult has horrendous results 4) a group of kids home alone have some unexpected visitors.OK, let's get straight to the heart of the matter...V/H/S 2 is absolutely horrendous, and if you enjoyed V/H/S in any way then you'll be sorely let down here. While the story's may have some interesting concepts the majority are just complete nonsense and in fact cross the border of ridiculous, especially for the 3rd entry.There's also absolutely no suspense or creepiness whatsoever either which was a let down because at least the 1st film had a decent amount of uneasiness & suspense to it. Here, there's nothing. The movie will probably be enjoyed by gore fans, however, but for me horrors need more than just gore to be enjoyable. The gore just tries to compensate for the pure lack of story and it's that that's used to shock the audience rather than anything else.On a side note, it's actually amazing how clear all the clips were considering they're all on VHS. The tapes in the 1st had at least some graininess giving them that VHS kind of feel.The only positives I can give this movie are at least the visual & special effects are done pretty well and the idea for the eye surgery clip is pretty cool. Other than that, V/H/S 2 completely bombs and is just extremely poor.

First of all I want to say that unlike the first movie whose cameras moved a lot, this one is not that annoying due to there was a better job filming the tapes, not like a professional but like a good amateur. Said this I want to add that the whole idea is quite interesting and realistic at times knowing it is just a movie (found-footage films are always a good way to make you think you are inside the movie). If the previous one was good, this was just great and I got scared a lot. It's not very common that a second part of a movie is better then the first but you've got this.The first tape was the tape I least liked but it was good after all, must admit I got scared a little despite the fact I don't like ghost very much, besides there were certain things that didn't have any sense but it got its purpose which is to make me scared. The second tape was interesting but didn't scare me and I doubt that zombies can do so, but it was good to see a zombie attack by the perspective of the same zombie. After the first two tapes things get better, the third tape was really but really great, original, bloody, insane, disturbing and all you can imagine. I really enjoyed watching this tape and it is probably better than any other tape showing in the first V/H/S, in fact it could have had its own movie because the idea was fantastic. And finally the fourth tape, the most disturbing, annoying (in a good way) and scariest of all. I'm sure you won't agree with me, but I must confess that any kind of extraterrestrial being scares the hell out of me. I never imagined this tape was about aliens, actually when I realized so I had to turn the lights on because I was very scared. This tape was funny at first and that relaxed me a lot but after a few minutes things got worse, the aliens were very aggressive and didn't seem to be super smart and that's disturbing and reminded me a story I heard once on a Spanish TV show, this tape definitely got its purpose because I was terrified watching this part of the movie.I'm glad after the result, a good movie and I hope I can sleep well tonight, I totally recommend this movie.

An investigator and his partner are hired to find a college kid. They break into house at night and find a room with bunch of TV, VCRs and lots of tapes. The girl stays to look at the tapes. He looks around the house. But there's someone else there.The first tape the girl watches is about a guy who lost his eye in an accident. He gets an implant and can see again through his bionic eye. When he gets home he starts seeing ghosts appear and vanish. Next morning a girl who saw him at the clinic knocks on his door. She tells him that she has an ear implant and now she hears ghosts. And she says she knows how to make them go away. But the ghosts have a plan of their own. That forces the guy to make a tough decision.Tape 2 is of a guy biking somewhere in the woods. A woman screaming for help crosses his path. She starts vomiting, turns into a zombie and attacks him. He still has a camera on his helmet as he turns into a zombie and attacks a couple. There are bunch of zombies there and they all crash a girl's birthday party. But some of the guys there start defending themselves. When he gets a call from his girlfriend, whatever he has left of his humanity surfaces.In tape 3 some journalists interview some guy who talks about knowing the path to immortality and that he's almost there. The crew of 4 then visit his compound. There are children there and a girl hints at being abused. When the actual interview with the cult leader begins, the 4 end up separating but for good reasons. At some point the guy says that it has begun and attacks the camera guy. Alarms start sounding. All the kids start drinking something. In another room, men shoot themselves in the head. The female reporter is taken by the cultists. When her guy finds he she gives birth. Things get crazier from there.The final story involves some kids who get to spend some time by themselves at what looks like a vacation home by the lake when the parents leave. There is a group of teens and a group of pre-teens. They pull pranks on each other and have a good time. Right away at night the house starts shaking, there are lights, sounds. This happens a couple of times until finally aliens show up.At the end we find out what happens with the couple of investigators and the college guy they were looking for.V/H/S/2 is an improvement on part 1. It has better image and better stories and is much gorier. It's good to see though that The ABCs of Death had enough of an impact to make a name for some of directors there. The first story is nothing special unfortunately, it is watchable mainly thanks to the lovely Hannah Hughes. Things improve greatly with the second story, the success of which borrows from Unearthed from The ABCs of Death by showing us what happens from the perspective of the villain. Things get even better in the third story by Timo Tjahjanto. His story isn't just happy to give us the creepy Jim Jones-type cult leader but goes way beyond. It's wild and crazy, just as his short on ABCs was. This guy is currently the future of horror. Unfortunately, after this high point things go significantly downhill with the aliens segment. It doesn't set up the story right, we can't distinguish any important character, what could have been a surprise is given away way too early, and it doesn't offer anything interesting. Odd and unfortunate, since Eisener's short on ABCs was pretty good. If they manage to make a sequel excluding weak shorts, they might have something here.