V/H/S/2

★★★★

Dir: Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale, Adam Wingard

(2012)

Last year's surprisingly good horror anthology V/H/S gave 5 directors free rein with digital cameras to tie together story concerned with the haunting and creepy quality of a lost medium through tried and tested horror tropes. The result was a genuinely scary short film compilation. The good news is that it's follow-up stays true to the format delivering 4 interesting shocking and sometimes hilarious 20 minute films by Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale and Adam Wingard.

When a pair of private detectives, investigating the disappearance of a teenage boy, break into a house to further their search, the discovery of a pile of creepy VHS tapes which the young lady of the pair begins to sift through. Each watch throws us into another short film punctuated by further happenings in the dark old house. The set up is unfortunately nearly identical to the first film, using the mythology of its predecessor to gain some purchase on the expectation of this becoming an ongoing series of movies. That unimaginative tick aside, V/H/S 2 easily equals the thrills and ingenuity of the first film.

An eye transplant takes a terrible turn in Clinical Trials, a Go-Pro biker gets a nasty bite in the woods in A Ride in the Park , a camera crew go for an interview inside a cult compound in Safe Haven and a childish slumber party turns nasty when some unwanted visitors touch down in Alien Abduction Slumber Party. Some of the B-movie titles may give some twists away but the majority of the films here are exceptionally well put together. Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto's winning and intense Safe Haven is easily the best but there is a lot going on, technically and intellectually with all on show.

John Carpenter lives in Jason Eisner's Alien Abduction Party (the least successful short in V/H/S 2) and Blair Witch Project and Lovely Molly director Eduardo Sánchez make the POV shot A Ride in the Park a total riot, while Winagrd's Black Mirror like satire takes a technological fear to a fine extreme. It's vicious, violent, offensive and funny and the short form lets its directors boil down their talents in a good way; Unlike this year's more miss than hit The ABC's of Death, V/H/S 2 manages to be satisfying and inventive but also a fun and funny midnight film.