V/H/S 2 Review
V/H/S 2 Review
After being very impressed by
the original V/H/S, the review of which you can find here,
I was interested to see if the sequel could hold up agaisnt the original. After
watching V/H/S 2 alone in a dark room I can safely say that the sequel
surpasses the original by a significant margin.
The V/H/S films are horror anthologies;
they both contain a number of shorts which are linked together through an
overarching plot line. The sequel contains 5 shorts including the main plot,
with 3 of them being excellent and 2 being simply 'good'. For a horror
anthology, the fact that all of the shorts are at least of good quality is a
rare thing, as anthologies usually have a more mixed level of quality.
Short 1: Phase 1
Clinical Trials
The first short excluding the
wrap around segment is based around fear of technology. The plot concerns a man
who has been fitted with a robotic eye, who then begins to see glitches that
come in the form of jump scares. Clinical Trials is the least creative of the
shorts, and relies on jump scares too heavily, the visuals are creepy but again
nothing we haven’t seen before, using a mixture of bloodied little girls and
demons. The use of the first person camera style however is a great addition to
the paranormal activity style of jump scare horror, and provides a claustrophobic
and extremely tense atmosphere, with the viewer not knowing what is going to be
lurking as the character looks around. Overall its a middling short, but not a
bad one, and is significantly better than the worst short in V/H/S 1.
Short 2: A Ride in the
Park
In the second short, a
cyclist stumbles across a pack of zombies in the woods; he then turns into a
zombie giving the short a point of view angle from the infected rather than the
victim. The first half of this zombie short gave a terrible first impression,
with what appeared to be a standard zombie plot. The twist of placing the
camera on the head of one of the zombies was a clever idea, although it still
seemed quite tame in comparison with the original film's shorts and the
previous one. The one redeeming feature of this short was the ending, which
broke the conventions of a zombie horror plot giving the short a fresh feel.
Even with the refreshingly new plot conclusion, it was still one of the least
frightening entries in the film.
Short 3: Safe Haven
Safe Haven is the standout
short from the film, it could have been made into a full length film, it's that
good. A group of news journalists approach the head of a doomsday cult and ask
to interview the leader and film what goes on in his cult. As the crew arrives
at the building it is clear that this cult has a far more disturbing purpose
than they initially thought. As the short escalates, it builds a sense of fear
and tension through the unknown, playing on the 'orientalist' fear of other
cultures. The film goes from tension building creepfest into full blown
disturbing body horror, making even the goriest of the original's entries look
tame in comparison. The imagery of this short is what will stick with you, and
its pure shock horror factor makes it easily the most disturbing and
frightening of both the original and the sequel's entries. The only thing that
let the short down was the attempt at humour at the end, which didnt sit well
after seeing what I had just seen, and felt cheap and forced. Other than the
conclusion, Safe Haven is a fantastic horror short that is worth the price of
the film alone.
Short 4: Slumber Party
Alien Abduction
This entry is exactly what
the title suggests, a slumber party in interrupted by the arrival of a group of
violent aliens. The short utilises visual and audio effects to create an
atmosphere of relentless threat, and to distort and dizzy your senses. To a
degree the effects work, with the use of intense strobe lighting, loud siren
and horn noises and smoke and mist to disorientate the viewer, leading to a
state of constant tension and fear. It is the least narrative heavy of the
shorts, and the idea of strapping the camera to a dog worked well, providing
some interesting visual results, especially near the end.
Wraparound Plot: Frame
49
The overarching storyline is
better than the original's, but is still weak in comparison to the individual
shorts. Two police officers enter a house to investigate the disappearance of a
young man, inside they find a stack of TV's and a house full of VHS tapes. They
begin to watch the tapes which leads onto events I won’t spoil. Again the
segment relies on jump scares, and does so admirably, even if they begin to
become repetitive. The ending of the film is clever and again works well,
providing a satisfyingly dark humoured conclusion to the entire film.
Overall this is a great
horror film, one which has all of the scares and gore you could want while
still being clever and inventive. The filming techniques are all impressive and
most of the shorts provide at least some jumps and scares, with Safe Haven
providing the most intense experience. If V/H/S 2 is showing near you I highly
recommend you check it out, especially if you are a fan of horror.
9/10
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