I loved the first V/H/S. But V/H/S/2 — also known as S-VHS — showed me what this format is truly capable of. More ideas, more variety, more genuine dread. A worthy successor that improves on almost everything the original did well.
V/H/S/2 (2013)
The Story: Two private investigators find a collection of VHS tapes while searching for a missing student. Each tape is more disturbing than the last. They keep watching anyway.
💀 Our Opinion: More ideas, more variety, more dread than the original. Safe Haven alone is worth the runtime — one of the best short horror films in the anthology genre. A worthy sequel that improves on almost everything the first film did well.
Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener
🎥 Watch it
Powered by JustWatchWhat V/H/S/2 Is About
Like the first film, a collection of VHS tapes is discovered — each one revealing something disturbing. This time, two private investigators find the tapes while searching for a missing student. As they work through the videos, each one more horrifying than the last, a creeping suspicion begins to form: the missing boy may be connected to what they’re watching. The deeper they go, the harder it becomes to look away.
The V/H/S/2 Trailer
The Segments
Clinical Trials
A man receives an artificial eye implant. His doctor warns him of possible side effects. What he begins to see through that digital eye, however, goes well beyond anything the medical literature prepared him for.
A Ride in the Park
A mountain biker is enjoying a peaceful ride through the woods when he is attacked by a hungry zombie. Shortly afterwards, he is one himself — still wearing the GoPro camera mounted to his helmet, still recording everything. What follows is a zombie’s-eye-view of the undead experience, and one of the most inventive segment concepts in the anthology genre.
Safe Haven
A television crew is filming a documentary about a reclusive and secretive cult. At first they’re sceptical, even slightly amused. Then everything goes wrong at once, and hell — quite literally — breaks loose.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction
The parents are away. A group of kids decide to spend the evening playing pranks on each other. Then strange lights appear outside. Then the noise starts. Something has landed near the house, and it hasn’t come for a friendly visit.nt.
Review: V/H/S/2 (Spoiler-Free)
V/H/S/2 delivers exactly what the anthology format promises and so rarely achieves: genuine variety. Each segment has its own tone, its own logic, its own brand of horror — and together they cover enough ground to offer something for almost every kind of horror fan. Scares, splatter, tension, and even the occasional dark laugh. The mix is what makes it work.
The standout for me is Safe Haven — a segment that builds an extraordinary amount of tension in a very short time and then commits to its apocalyptic finale with a commitment that borders on reckless. It could have functioned as a standalone splatter film. As a short, it’s remarkable.
Slumber Party Alien Abduction and A Ride in the Park also deserve their flowers. The GoPro-on-the-helmet concept in A Ride in the Park is one of those ideas that sounds gimmicky on paper and turns out to be genuinely inspired — there’s something darkly comic about a zombie continuing to film himself, and the segment leans into that with confidence.
Clinical Trials is the weakest link for me personally. The concept is strong — a digital eye that sees things it shouldn’t — but the execution didn’t quite land. Not bad, but noticeably weaker than the others.
One honest complaint about Safe Haven, without getting into spoilers: the final shot features a visual effect that doesn’t quite convince. You’ll know it when you see it. For a segment that is otherwise brilliantly constructed, it’s a frustrating stumble at the finish line.
Verdict
V/H/S/2 won’t top my all-time found footage list — but it sits comfortably in the top five. Whatever you’re looking for — scares, tension, splatter, or inventive format experimentation — V/H/S/2 has it.
If you loved the first V/H/S, you’ll love this one more.
Where to Watch V/H/S/2
Powered by JustWatchSimilar Movies to V/H/S/2
V/H/S/2 sits at the intersection of found footage horror and anthology filmmaking — two formats that work surprisingly well together. Here’s where to go next depending on which side drew you in.
If it was the anthology format:
V/H/S (2012) — The original. Less polished, less consistent, but with the same wild energy and the same willingness to go places mainstream horror wouldn’t dare. Start here if you haven’t already.
V/H/S: Viral (2014) — The third instalment and the weakest of the three — but worth watching to complete the set. Bonestorm is the standout segment. Read our full review for V/H/S Viral.
V/H/S/94 (2021) — The third instalment, set in 1994, and arguably the most consistently strong entry in the franchise. A significant step up in quality from V/H/S/3 and well worth your time.
Southbound (2015) — A found footage anthology set on a desolate desert highway, where five interlocking stories bleed into each other in ways that gradually reveal a larger, darker picture. More atmospheric than V/H/S/2, less frantic, but quietly unsettling.
If it was the found footage horror:
REC (2007) — The gold standard. A TV crew follows firefighters into a Barcelona apartment building and can’t get out. Relentless, terrifying, and still the benchmark for found footage horror done right.
Deadstream (2022) — A disgraced YouTuber locks himself in a haunted house and livestreams the whole thing. Found footage horror comedy at its best — funny, inventive, and genuinely scary. Read our full review.
