IHdb

ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - July 12th

"V/H/S/2" released in 2013

Combining the sub-genres of found footage and horror anthology, V/H/S/2 again features multiple story-lines made by notable horror directors, including franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard. They are joined by fellow directors Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun), Gareth Evans (The Raid) and Eduardo Sánchez & Gregg Hale (The Blair Witch Project).

Watch the V/H/S/2 trailer below!

Please Like IHdb's Facebook page above!

V/H/S/2 begins with Tape 49, private investigators Larry (Lawrence Michael Levine) and his girlfriend Ayesha (Kelsy Abbott) are hired to look into the disappearance of college student Kyle (L.C. Holt). Breaking into Kyle's dorm, the pair find a large stack of VHS tapes and a laptop that is still recording a video. As Larry starts to search the rest of the house, Ayesha learns from Kyle's video message that each VHS tape needs to be watched in a certain order to achieve the "effect", and starts to view the first tape -

Top:   Larry (Lawrence Michael Levine) and Ayesha (Kelsy Abbott) accept 

a new case; Above:   Herman (Adam Wingard) inspects his new "eye"

Phase I Clinical Trials tells the story of Herman (Adam Wingard) who, after a car accident, has had a camera surgically implanted where his right eye had been. Despite being warned the process is still "experimental", Herman enjoys the new experience until he starts to see disturbing things - in particular a Bloody Man (Brian Udovich) and a Young Girl (Corrie Lynn Fitzpatrick). Herman encounters another donor recepient, Clarissa (Hannah Hughes), who explains that the "people" they are seeing are actually the spirits of the dead... and they don't like to be ignored.

Top:   Clarissa (Hannah Hughes) explains their "gifts" to Herman;

Above:   Zombies return in segment A Ride in the Park

The next tape, A Ride in the Park, features a cyclist Mike (Jay Saunders) who, while trying to help a woman from a pack of approaching zombies, is himself bitten and infected. Joining the pack, the zombies go on a rampage. But how much of Mike's humanity is actually lost? Next up is Safe Haven; a news crew infiltrate an Indonesian cult to interview their leader. The interview is cut short when a siren blares and announces the "time of reckoning" - where all cultists start to commit mass suicide. The few remaining cultist kidnap the pregnant Lena (Hannah Al Rashid) who have designs for her unborn baby, forcing her boyfriend Adam (Fachry Albar) to try to rescue her and escape the compound before the cult's true intentions is revealed!

Top:   Cultists kidnap Lena (Hannah Al Rashid);

Above:   Jen (Samantha Gracie) tries to hide from the aliens!

The last tape, Slumber Party Alien Abduction, young brothers Gary (Rylan Logan) and Randy (Cohen King) invite their friends Shawn (Zach Ford) and Danny (Josh Ingraham) to a sleep over. During the night, the boys, with Gary and Randy's older sister Jen (Samantha Gracie) and her boyfriend Zach (Jeremie Saunders) are attacked by aliens. The whole event recorded on a camera the brother's had taped to the back of their Yorkshire Terrier, Tank. By now having watched all tapes in sequence, Larry returns to find Ayesha "dead" and Kyle standing in the room to give a final horrifying explanation to the purpose of the VHS tapes!

Top:   Kyle (L.C. Holt) leaves an eerie video on his laptop;

Above:   Ayesha watches the final tape... and she is not alone!

Originally entitled S-V/H/S, the sequel was rushed into production due to the success of V/H/S, with V/H/S/2 being released only 9 months after the first film. Despite the rushed production, V/H/S/2 received better reviews than it's predecessor, with Dennis Harvey of Variety called it "rip-roaring good time for genre fans." Movie critic Rex Reed caused a controversy when he reviewed the film with notable inaccuracies, describing the segment Slumber Party Alien Abduction as "a sleepover invaded by psycho kidnappers (as opposed to aliens) told from the perspective of a GoPro camera attached to the back of a dog" and describing A Ride in the Park as the tale of "a mountain biker pursued by flesh-eating zombies" - not mentioning how for the most of the segment he is a zombie himself. Reed later admitted he had walked out of V/H/S/2 after the first twenty-minutes and hadn't even seen most of the film he was writing about! Many felt that Reed was unprofessional, with journalist Sam Adams stating that Reed was "making a mockery of a noble profession while intelligent critics scramble for crumbs all around him."

Above:   Ayesha watches the tapes in sequence and finds out Kyle's

true motives for the VHS videos!

A final V/H/S film, V/H/S Viral was released in 2014, again featuring several segments directed by Todd Lincoln (The Apparition), Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes), Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Gregg Bishop (Dance of the Dead), Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (co-directors of Resolution). This time, the film centers on famed obsessed teens Iris (Emilia Zoryan) and her boyfriend Kevin (Patrick Lawrie) who unwittingly become stars of the next internet sensation that will "infect" the entire world!

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   70%






Also released today in 2002 - "Halloween: Resurrection"
Read the Blog below!