The first "V/H/S" was the DEFINITION of a mixed bag. Some of the acting was fantastic, but some of it was terrible. Some of the shorts were brilliant and terrifying, but others were insulting and laughable. The atmosphere was nightmarish, but the characters were obnoxiously unlikable. I really hope that those disappointed by the first "V/H/S" film can find it in their hearts to give "V/H/S 2" a shot cause, as it turns out, it's not only vastly superior to the original film, but one Hell of a horror movie on its own merits. As an anthology flick, I'll be analyzing each of the shorts on their own.Phase #1: Clinical Trials~The admitted weakest of all the shorts, but still not bad. This one suffers from some VERY blatant plot holes (If Herman's artificial eye only allows him to see ghosts in his house, why is there a "scary noise" whenever they show up on screen?), but the jump scares, fairly cheap as they are, DO work and director Adam Wingard proves himself to be a solid actor. This short also boasts some impressive gore effects and gives a genius reason for why the camera is always rolling. 6/10 A Ride In The Park~So good that it's a shame it's not feature length. The zombies themselves are terrifying in both speech and appearance, the premise is creative, the gore effects are outstanding and used effectively, and the short gets in a surprisingly heavy emotional punch near the end. And must say, never thought I'd see a zombie film where the zombie has character development. 9/10Safe Haven~Definitely the most creative (And the most violent) of the shorts. The story is surprisingly complex for its runtime, the acting is incredibly realistic, the characters are likable, the wickedly dark comedy hits hard (Especially the ending), and the film does an excellent job using its unpredictability to shock and horrify you. This one also boasts the best creature effects of all the shorts. 8/10Slumber Party Alien Abduction~Saving the best for last. Many found footage films have attempted tackling the "alien abduction" sub- genre to varying degrees of success, but "V/H/S 2" does in less than 15 minutes what none of them accomplished at feature length. The acting is fantastic, the characters are likable, the effects are outstanding, the pacing is perfect and above all, it's scary. REALLY scary. The film shifts from casual home movie to nightmarish escape from malevolent aliens seamlessly, using its more lighthearted, "fun" tone as a disguise for what becomes arguably the most suspenseful and intense of the shorts (Something helped by the fact it is preceded by the darkest short in the movie) There is not a single moment in the entire short that is not entertaining, and it's proof that the alien abduction found footage sub-genre can do SO much better. 10/10Frame Narrative~Words cannot express how grateful I am that the characters are actually LIKABLE in this installment, not to mention very well acted. True, Larry and Ayesha have the chaotic, "rules are made to be broken" attitude to them that the characters in the first movie had, but they're still essentially good people, and their love for breaking the rules and generally pissing off people they don't particularly like comes off here as more of a "rogueish charm" that just makes them even MORE likable. The reasoning behind the collector's possession of the tapes is much more fascinating this time around, and the frame narrative contains some very subtle but truly horrifying visual scares. The 2 ending plot twists are brilliant, even if the final scare is something of a disappointment. 9/10 "V/H/S 2" is the perfect found footage movie for any adrenaline junkie, gore hound tired of the genre's relatively bloodless entries. That said, there is still much to love for fans who like their horror more subtle and suspenseful. Simply put, it's very diverse in the different ways it scares its audience. Scary, funny, well acted and with surprisingly likable characters "V/H/S 2" makes its mark as the undisputed pinnacle of the trilogy and definitely one of the better found footage films.

This film is quite frustrating as it has as many low points as high points. I love anthology movies, and this is my first 'found footage' one, but I have to admit I'm kind of left cold by this one as, well, there's too many questions raised and, basically, some of the stories are totally crap.Best to go through segment by segment: Wraparound - Not bad as two PIs track down the son of somebody or other. Logic thrown out of the window as I can't understand why someone would transfer all this digital media onto video tape. Plus the guy's assistant is dead so he decides to watch a video? The fake eyeball one: Generic J-Horror style one that barely makes sense at all. I'm still trying to understand why the girl knew that he could see the dead when she could hear them. Or something.The zombie one. Nice premise. In fact, this one isn't too bad (from the Hobo with a Shotgun guys, which is a film you should watch). Not much of a story, but still.The Cult One. Yet again, this one is high on gore and horror (it's like a Jonestown thing with much more sinister tones)...but logic is also thrown out the window. I mean, if all this crap happened, who snuck back into the compound and gathered together every camera used and then edited it all together (then put it on VHS for no reason)? It's things like this that sink this film.The alien abduction one. I've just described this one. That's it.Anthology films are hard to do. It must be harder to do them 'found footage' style but at least two of the films here seem to involve the apocalypse which makes you wonder how these films ended up on VHS in some guy's house. That sequence barely makes sense at all by the way.Yet again, another film you may or may not like based on who you are. I was kind of indifferent about it.

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

V/H/S/2 was a mild improvement over its predecessor, which I loved as well. The frame narrative was more compelling than V/H/S, and the ending was especially great and pretty crazy. The movie as a whole is thirty minutes shorter, a major improvement over V/H/S which ran for almost two hours. The first segment, "Phase I Clinical Trials", was the jumpiest segment and also the scariest. It was slightly derivative of other supernatural movies like "The Eye", and there were quite a few unanswered questions. It was the weakest of the four quality-wise, but it certainly wasn't my least favorite. The next segment, "A Ride in the Park", was very original and entertaining. It's a zombie found footage short. I don't think there's even been a found footage zombie film, so this was a pretty cool take on the genre. Also, the camera was attached to the zombie's head, another original concept. The third segment, "Safe Haven", was by far my favorite. It was crazy, bloody, disturbing, atmospheric... everything you could ever want from a horror film. The final segment, "Slumber Party Alien Abduction", was my least favorite, most because the aliens were just run-of-the-mill grey aliens, and the kids in the short were extremely annoying. Nonetheless, it was VERY intense, thanks to its amazing sound and lighting effects. If you're a fan of the first one, don't miss this one.