Date Night: V/H/S/2

In which I review a movie that's streamable on Netflix.

While I've always loved the idea of found footage horror movies, I've rarely ever been impressed with the execution of them.  There always comes a point when there's no good reason for why the camera is still rolling: a point when every reasonably intelligent person would have gone "screw this, turn the damned thing off and run for it."  Sure, there are bound to be die-hard truthers out there wanting to document what's going on, but not in the kinds of numbers that the protagonists of these kinds of movies put up.

For all of the series' ups and downs, that's always been what the V/H/S franchise had going for it.  By constricting their individual stories into 15-20 minute vignettes, its shtick never had time to wear out its welcome.  What's more is that it actively experimented with different recording methods of its stories.

Some segments would be shot with traditional cameras, yes, but others would be Skype conversations or sex tapes made with hidden spy cameras.  Some even manged to tie in the inherent necessity of filming the events into the narrative itself.

This experimental tradition isn't lost on the second movie of the series.  One segment is recorded on a prosthetic eye: a kind of camera that not only ties into the story in question, but quietly answers the inherent question of why nobody ever thought to turn it off and run.  Another story is recorded in the guise of a documentary, which would naturally require that the camera be rolling until its conclusion.  One particularly inspired sequence shoots a zombie outbreak from the protagonist's helmet-mounted Go Pro.

In addition to this varied and sensible use of found footage, the sequel proves itself in every way to be superior to its predecessor.  The vignettes are better directed, better written, better acted and better shot across the board.  Only one sequence can really be considered a disappointment (during a supernaturally-themed Jonestown-styled massacre), and that's more from trying to include too much than not having enough to work with.

The segments are all far more ambitious than the "just because" mentality that seemed to permeate through the first movie.  They're more than just a haunted house story, or honeymoon stalker or a random encounter with a succubus.  One segment is basically what would happen if high-tech sensory prosthesis turned you into the kid from The Sixth Sense.  Another strikingly tragic story explored what would happen if a zombie momentarilly recognized the monster that it had become.

Although a colossal improvement on the original, V/H/S/2 is not without its share of issues.  While the vignettes feature across the board improvements to quality, some stories ("A Ride in the Park") are inherently better than others ("Safe Haven").  Like the original, the frame story linking the segments together is vastly inferior compared to those stories it links to.

"Slumber Party Alien Abduction" suffers from the confusing visuals that often accompany shakey cam combined running, compounded by the fact that the story itself wasn't especially interesting.  Both "Clinical Trials" and "A Ride in the Park" felt like they could have used some more time to let the story percolate: made all the more disappointing when you consider that simply removing the frame story would have given both segments all the time that they needed to develop.

On the whole, though, V/H/S/2 is a surprisingly capable - if sadly uneven - found footage film that makes some of the best use of its sub genre that I've ever seen.  The stories being told are all solid, even if some are more solid than others.  Fans of the first movie will find everything that they liked about the it is still there while those that left the theater wanting more (like I did) may find something worthwhile despite themselves.

Rating:  7/10

Buy on BluRay:  Probably not

So what was your favorite V/H/S/2 story segment?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Join the Filmquisition on Twitter (@Filmquisition) or by subscribing to this blog.