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Parents' Guide to

V/H/S/2

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Tons of violence, over-the-top gore in anthology sequel.

Movie R 2013 96 minutes
V/H/S/2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

callofduty5
callofduty5 Adult
April 20, 2014
age 15+

Great horror anthology homage, but only for older teens!

Having seen V/H/S, I decided to take a look at it's sequel V/H/S/2. The movie tells you about a pair of private eyes who take on a look for a missing student. They go through a load of VHS tapes to find clues for this student. Parents, be advised that this movie is heavy on violence, sex and language. You'll find detailed descriptions for the horror stories. Phase I clinical trials: A man starts to see weird stuff in his house after he has been embedded with a prostetic eye. There are lots of jump scares, some blood, an eye mutilation and also a sex scene which isn't really graphic but you'll see bare breasts. A ride in a park: A zombie- kinda story where a man is attacked by a group of zombies and we'll see what happens after he gets infected. If your kids have seen zombie-films this one shouldn't be too bad. Lots of gore (intestines ripped out, lots of innards) and a fair amount of bloody/gory scenes. Safe Haven: Really violent, an Indonesian doc. crew makes a documentary about an Indonesian cult group. Really well made segment but extremely violent and gory. A pregnant woman is dismembered and killed, lots of gory headshots, brutal melee scenes (As typical with Gareth Evans's The Raid film). Definetly watch this before you let your kids see it. Slumber party alien abduction: Funniest segment, not so violent but animal lovers might get upset of the dog's death. In this part kids play pranks on their older sister until an alien abduction takes place. Feel free to judge/agree with me. I don't care. But this one should be ok with teens aged 15+, the sex and language are not an issue. With violence it can be hard to watch in some scenes, but mostly it should be fine for teens, mature teens. Rated 15+ For Strong horror violence, blood and gore,strong horror themes, strong sex scenes and nudity, coarse language.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

A detective and his partner -- who are searching for one of the missing teens from V/H/S -- find the creepy house with the buzzing TV sets and the stacks of VHS videocassettes. Naturally, they start watching a few. The first one is about a man who gets an eye transplant and starts seeing ghosts. Next, a biker films himself riding along a trail when zombies attack (his helmet camera becomes a zombie-cam). In the third segment, a film crew tries to get the inside scoop on an Indonesian religious cult, but their own dirty secrets betray them. And, finally, attacking aliens disrupt a teen slumber party. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in the house.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (8 ):

Aside from the somewhat lazy wraparound sequence, the ideas here are fairly inspired. The trick with V/H/S/2, as well as with V/H/S, is coming up with excuses for characters to film themselves just before bad things happen. As with the first movie, low quality is actually the goal, but only in the fourth segment is the hand-held camerawork nausea-inducing. And even then, as the barely visible aliens advance toward the camera, the technique induces queasy panic. Mostly though, this is a surprisingly professional and surprisingly effective movie. There are no real characters to speak of, and it's all about the sensation. The movie's approach simulates a viewer's point of view -- the viewer is the major character -- but it adds an extra layer of terror by removing the option to look away or blink. It can be genuinely scary. Only the extreme gore, which has a tendency to slowly and sickeningly increase over time, could be a drawback for true horror fans.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about V/H/S/2's violence. Is a horror movie scarier with lots of blood? What's the impact of showing so much gore? What's the appeal of over-the-top violence?

  • What makes the movie scary? Are the monsters scary, or is it the way that the movie tells the stories?

  • Why is sex often so much a part of horror movies? What message is this movie sending about sex?

  • For the YouTube generation, when everything is public and online, what's the appeal of VHS tapes?

Movie Details

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