V/H/S/2 (2013)
Starring: Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsy Abbott, L.C. Holt, Adam Wingard, Hannah Hughes, Jay Saunders, Fachry Albar, Hannah Al Rashid, Oka Antara, Ryan Logan, Samantha Gracie
Writers: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, John Davies, Jason Eisner
Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisner
Synopsis:
Searching for a missing student, two
private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another
collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents
of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind
the student's disappearance.
Review:
I liked V/H/S. It was a neat idea for
an anthology, and I thought the first and last tape stories were
great. The middle segment (Tuesday the 17th) had a cool
premise, but poor execution. But the wraparound story is what I take
the biggest issue with; it's just entirely too long, and not all that
interesting. V/H/S/2 as a whole is a correction of everything wrong
with the first film. All the excess fat is cut away and we're left
with the meat. The wraparound is concise and time isn't wasted on a
group of deplorable dirtbags that you're never going to like. The
stories on the tapes are demonstrated in much more inventive ways
this go-around, too. Additionally, I think it was smart to go with
4 central shorts this time, instead of 5. V/H/S/2 is a quick 96 minute ride
through video cassette hell.
I'm not going to touch on the
wraparound (Tape 49) any more than I did in the synopsis, because
that's about the size of it. All I want to say is that it was written
and directed by Simon Barrett, and he fully realized what needed to
be changed and
he nailed it. Now, let's look at the central stories.
Phase 1 Clinical Trials
art by Massimo Carnevale
The story is about a man who loses
sight in one of his eyes due to a car accident. A doctor installs a
bionic camera implant, which records everything the man sees, for
research purposes. As you can guess, once the man gets home,
strangeness begins to unfold, and he sees things that a person
lacking a bionic eyeball wouldn't.
This one is also written by Simon
Barrett, while Adam Wingard stars and directs. While it's largely
from a POV standpoint, Wingard does a fantastic job in the role, and
I'd personally love to see him in some leading parts. There's some
great camera work and practical effects trickery here. Overall,
really good story and some honest freakout scenes. Hanna Hughes also
stars, and her and Wingard's characters are excellent throwbacks to
two great 90s sitcoms. Good stuff.
A Ride in the Park
art by Tony Moore
A cyclist on a bike trail comes into
contact with a woman “blood-caked and screaming murder” (see what
I did there?). She vomits, keels over, then comes to, and
bites him. So yep, it's a zombie story.
I know I know, zombies are done to
death, right? What isn't? That argument is for another day. But
seriously, this was a really refreshing take on the sub-genre. Our
cyclist who is bitten becomes undead, of course. What's awesome about
this is he has a Go Pro camera installed on the top of his bike
helmet, so the remainder of the story is zombie POV. It's absolutely
awesome, quick, unexpected, and pretty damn gory. Written by Jamie
Nash and co-directed by Gregg Hale and Eduardo Sanchez (who I have
respected ever since The Blair Witch Project), A Ride in the Park is
the moment in V/H/S/2 where I was telling myself that this anthology
was just going to get better and better and more inventive as it
moved along. Really liked this one.
Safe Haven
art by James Stokoe
A news crew goes to investigate an
Indonesian cult where the front man is thought to be sleeping with the
kids to purify them. While the crew is there, the “father” makes
an announcement over the intercom, and from there on out things
spiral completely out of control.
Wow. Can't say much more than that, but
this is one hell of a story! Co-written and co-directed by Gareth
Evans and Timo Tjahjanto, this story gives some nods to famous cult events and puts a supernatural spin on top. Nothing I can really say
would prepare you for Safe Haven. It's got a slow build and then
around the halfway mark just totally goes off the rails. After each
second I was thinking “okay, it can't get any nuttier than that”, but
it did, and did, and did. The quick camera edits for FX shots are
amazingly done. Excellent piece.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction
art by Sheldon Vella
The story is about a young boy, Gary,
and some friends. His parents are leaving for vacation, so big
sis will be in charge. She shows up with her boyfriend. Like most
young boys, Gary and his friends like to play pranks on the sister
and her boyfriend, but additionally, they like to film it. After a
late night prank, the sister and boyfriend decide to get a little
revenge, by way of installing a camera on the family dog. Shortly
afterward, aliens crash the slumber party.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction is hands
down my favorite segment of V/H/S/2. I've always been fascinated by
aliens. Whether it's E.T. healing you with his finger or a Xenomorph
bleeding on you and melting off your face, I dig it. But nothing
strikes a chord with me more than alien abduction stories. They
terrify me to the bone and I just simply can't be convinced that
there's not at least one true case of alien abduction. I believe in
Fire in the Sky. That story freaks me out, and I think this little
piece is a close second in the scare department. It's directed by
Jason Eisner and co-written by himself and John Davies. The story is kind
of personal and it's obvious, due to the small things thrown in. I also have to say that POV from a dog is absolutely genius.
Sure, the camera is all over the place, but it fits all of the
frantic events taking place. The sound and lighting effects are insane and freakish. I loved this story to death.
Final Word:
V/H/S/2 pretty much blew me away. I
can't promise that you'll feel the same, but I think most people will
at least be able to appreciate that it is indeed a step up from its
predecessor. If you're just not a fan of found footage in general,
you may not enjoy the jolting experience. However, if you are open to
said gimmick, I say give this one a shot. As mentioned earlier, I was
a fan of the first, but part 2 is leaps and bounds better.
DVD:
The V/H/S/2 DVD is presented in
Widescreen format (1.78:1). Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1,
and subtitles included are English (Foreign Dialogue), English SDH,
and Spanish.
Special Features
Tape 49 Rewind / Dissecting Phase 1
Clinical Trials / Inside Safe Haven / Slumber Party Alien Abduction:
Behind the Lights /A Ride in the Park: I Dare You - These are all basically little snippets
of interviews and set visits dealing with the production and how the
story came about and whatnot. The Slumber Party Alien Abduction
segment is mostly void of talk, just sequences of how shots were filmed
and such. Really cool. A Ride in the Park: I Dare You is hilarious,
and I'll leave it at that.
AXS TV: A Look at V/H/S/2 - You kind
of get some of the same elements out of this that you get in the
above mentioned features, but here they are intertwined with a film
trailer.
Behind the Scenes Photo Galleries - Broken up into chapters for each segment of the movie.
Theatrical Trailers & more trailers
from Magnolia Entertainment
Commentary - This is a prime example
of a perfect commentary; full of information and funny as hell. The
commentary was recorded at different times, due to the filmmakers
living in all parts of the world. Every time you get to the
wraparound story, you're welcomed back by Wingard and Barrett, who
are a total delight to listen to. Actually everyone is. The Safe
Haven commentary contains more F-bombs than all of my older reviews
combined with the first two Rob Zombie movies. In other words, it's
awesome. But as a whole, this commentary is totally worth a listen.
Final Word:
The little snippet features are indeed
cool, but the most fun to be had from this release (aside from the
movie itself) is the commentary. Enjoy.
V/H/S/2 is available now on Blu-ray
and DVD, and a DVD/Blu-ray/VHS combo pack, from Magnolia HomeEntertainment.
- Eric (Brobocop)
