History Film / VHS2

A pair of private investigators bust into a house to find a missing college student and discover a bunch of tapes, one among which reveals what happened to him.

* ''Tape 49'': The wraparound. Larry and Ayesha, a pair of private investigators, break and enter into the house of a college student (Kyle) after his mother hasn't heard from him for a couple days. They discover a collection of tapes that the student has amassed, and as they watch them, things become more and more surreal.
* ''Phase I Clinical Trials'': Herman Middleton has lost his eye in a car accident. He undergoes an experimental procedure in which his ruined eye is replaced with a cybernetic eye with a camera put into it which records everything. It's not before long his new eye has him start seeing ghosts, who are aware that he can sense them... and aren't happy about it.
* ''A Ride in the Park'': With a camera mounted on his helmet, cyclist Mike Sullivan goes for a bike ride in a state park. During his ride, Mike is attacked and bitten by a zombie. He eventually dies from his wounds, reanimates, and attacks a married couple, who become zombies themselves. The threat escalates when the zombified trio begin [[ZombieApocalypse terrorizing a birthday party]].
* ''[[IronicNickname Safe]] [[BlatantLies Haven]]'': The film's longest segment. In Indonesia, Malik, his fiancée Lena, and his friends Adam and Joni manage to gain entrance to the compound of Paradise Gates, a suspicious cult. The foursome are part of a film crew who are hoping to shoot a documentary about the cult's mysterious activities with many hidden cameras. Little do they know that the cult practices demonic worship, and they take particular interest in Lena, who happens to be pregnant.
* ''[[AlienInvasion Slumber Party Alien Abduction]]'': Brothers Gary and Randy attach a camera to their dog Tank to shoot videos. When their parents leave on an outing, they invite their friends Shawn and Danny to play pranks on their older sister Jen and her friends. The kids and teenagers engage in one prank after another, but things quickly become serious when aliens come to abduct them.

* BrownNote: [[spoiler: What the tapes in the wraparound segment are meant to be.]]
* ContinuityNod: One of the VHS tapes played is from the previous film's wraparound segment Tape 56.
* FacialHorror: [[spoiler:The college student post-suicide is missing the lower half of his mouth and [[{{Squick}} his tongue is flapping out]].]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: That bang heard when the investigators are about to enter the house with the cassettes? Turns out that [[spoiler: it was the college student blowing off his lower jaw to "make his own tape".]]
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: At the end, Kyle, [[spoiler: the college kid, gives a thumbs up to the audience after he kills the other private detective.]]

* DistractedByTheSexy: A unique horror and matter-of-survival variant of this trope, Clarissa attempts to get Herman's mind off the ghosts by flashing her boobs and preparing to have sex with him because as she explained, if Herman keeps paying attention to the ghosts, they grow more powerful.

* EyeScream: Herman ends up cutting out his own eye. It only makes him unable to see what's attacking him.

* ForeShadowing: When Herman and Clarissa discuss the ghosts, Herman suggests removing his implant to get rid of them. Clarissa shoots this down, saying that it'll only keep Herman from seeing the ghosts instead of outright getting rid of them. At the end of the segment, [[spoiler: Herman uses a straight razor to cut out the implant. Just as Clarissa said, this does nothing to help him, as the ghosts (now unseen to him) proceed to throttle him.]]
* ISeeDeadPeople: Herman's eye and Clarissa's cochlear implants let them both see and hear ghosts.
* MeaningfulName: As pointed out in the commentary track, the two main characters both have meaningful names that are {{Stealth Pun}}s on LiveActionTV shows from TheNineties: Clarissa delivers a lot of {{Exposition}} about the supernatural elements, so it can be said that she [[Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll "explains it all"]]. Herman's ocular implant causes him to be able to sense ghosts, so the problem is [[Series/HermansHead all in his head]].
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: They're all around us, but rarely are people able to sense them. When you can, the ghosts can tell, and the more you interact with them -- i.e. even so much as ''look at them'' -- the more they can interact with you in turn. And they're not kind.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: The ending. Although seeing how he was a zombie, it may be difficult to actually classify him as a "villain".]]
* {{Autocannibalism}}: After resurrecting, undead Mike takes a bite out of his own arm, but doesn't find it palatable.
* BirthdayEpisode: A little girl has a birthday party during the zombie apocalypse, [[spoiler: [[{{Irony}} although she most likely died after blowing out her cake candles]]]].
* BloodFromTheMouth: Both the distressed lady and Mike puke up a bunch of blood before they transform.
* BodyHorror: A few of the zombies have their intestines trailing across the ground along their ankles

* CarFu: One party-goer runs over zombie Mike in an SUV.

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: An undead Mike accidentally dials his girlfriend’s voice message and the sound of her voice seems to reawaken some vestiges of humanity within him. Realising his horrific state, he proceeds to grab a nearby discarded shotgun and [[MercyKill put him]][[DrivenToSuicide self down.]]]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: Showcases this at the end, when Mike accidentally butt-dials his girlfriend. This prompts a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment in the now-zombified Mike, causing him to grab a nearby shotgun and blow his brains out.]]
* EyeScream: Mike gets this when a father of three girls stabs his eye with a barbecue pitch-fork.
* FallenHero: Mike and the Good Samaritan couple were all decent people willing to help out anyone in danger before they turned into cannibalistic freaks.
* {{Fingore}}: The first victim in "A Ride in the Park" has all the fingers on one of his hands bitten off.
* GunNut: Apparently [[DeepSouth one guy with a trucker hat]] came to a little girl's birthday party with a ''double-barrel shotgun''. The zombies staged a surprise attack on the party.
* MadeOfIron: Mike as a zombie is able to endure two baseball bat swings, a barbecue fork, a shotgun blast and even getting run over. Somehow even the camera survives all that abuse.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Zombie Mike when he regained his memories and consciousness before re-animating back was probably thinking this as he just killed a few people and tried to kill more.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In "A Ride in the Park", the Good Samaritans are bitten and infected turning into zombies as ''consequence'' for their good deeds.
* NoNameGiven: Other than Mike who is the protagonist, everyone else doesn't have an on-screen name. The ending credits even address Mike as just "Biker".

* NonIndicativeName: The segment's title doesn't say anything about zombies, and while a ride in the park does appear, it's only an insignificant detail.

* PapaWolf: One father of three girls successfully escaped and drove his daughters to safety away from Mike.
* PerspectiveFlip: Usually zombie films require you to see from the side of the alive humans at a third-person narrative. "A Ride in the Park" shows you a first-person perspective from the zombie's eyes. It turns out that the humans aren't that much less dangerous to the zombies than vice versa, as Mike was shot and stabbed and beaten up with a baseball bat.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: The birthday cake and barbecued burgers and hot dogs got abandoned when their potential eaters [[spoiler: ran away to avoid getting eaten themselves]].
* TooDumbToLive: One surviving video footage came from a party attendant while he was subdued and eaten alive by a female zombie. Why stand still in the middle of a zombie-infested party? Same goes for that guy who came with a shotgun but stood completely still while shooting zombies and forgot to check for blind spots.
* VillainProtagonist: Mike gets turned into a zombie and stays as this till the end.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: Twice, just before the cyclist (and the person who inevitably bites him) transform into zombies.
* WouldHurtAChild: Zombie Mike chases three little girls to eat them because they were the slowest and easiest prey.
* ZombieApocalypse: A first-person found footage recording of one at that.

* AffablyEvil: Every bad guy but particularly The Father and the man with the shotgun who requests Adam (albeit somewhat aggressively) not to interrupt while he is about to blow the [[spoiler: {{Decoy Protagonist}}'s]] brains out. After completing the deed, he thanks Adam and [[spoiler: blows his own brains out]].
* ApocalypseCult: The cultists.

* DarkMessiah: The leader of the cult is presented as this, as he goes on about how he and his flock will be lead to heaven. [[spoiler: Not to mention the demon thing at the end...]]
* DeathByChildBirth: [[spoiler: Horrifically played straight in where a demonic goat-like creature bursts out of Lena, killing her.]]
* DecoyProtagonist: The story begins from the POV of the producer of the news channel. [[spoiler: He is killed off and story shifts to a different POV.]]

* GodOfEvil: The cult worship one. [[spoiler: He goes on one hell of a rampage, after he is born.]]
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Adam manages to get in his car and quickly drive away from the cult's location. Cue demon randomly appearing and flipping the car off the road...]]
* LaughingMad: This is how [[spoiler: the tape winds up concluding]].
* LudicrousGibs: [[spoiler: The Father suddenly explodes into this]].
* NoNameGiven: While [[spoiler: the demon]] isn't named, it is [[spoiler: a goat-man so it appears to be Baphomet]].
* PipePain: Adam momentarily arms himself with a pipe to defend himself after he goes after the pregnant lady.

** [[spoiler:The "community" the film crew's investigating is actually a suicide cult]].

* {{Satan}}: Given that it sports [[spoiler: a goat head, horns and bat-like wings]], the monster is most probably [[spoiler: the devil himself]].

* SequelGoesForeign: This segment brings the action to Indonesia after the prior film was set entirely in the US.
* ShirtlessScene: The Father when [[spoiler: the god is about to come out. He also sports some nasty markings and scars all over his body.]]
* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:The cameraman's]] after [[spoiler: the Father attacks him]].

* AlienAbduction: The aliens' motive for doing so is never stated, though it could be because they intended humans for dissection and autopsy to study their biology.
* AlienAmongUs: One alien spied on the humans while hiding in the lake without being visible from the surface, indicating that the aliens have camouflaging abilities.
* AliensAreBastards: Being aliens, their morality could be colder than that of humans. They ruthlessly pursue and abduct the humans, and they have no qualms about violently shoving the dog if it gets in their way or [[spoiler:indirectly causing the dog's death with their tractor beam]].
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: The siblings spend the first few minutes pranking and annoying each other, but once the aliens show up they've got each others' backs. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding Not that it matters in the end...]]]]
* TheBully: The kids and teens are extremely cruel to each other just to get some laughs out of it. In the end, they get forced to care for each other and run for their lives with their only priority being to find refuge.
* CoitusInterruptus: Jen's brothers prank her by interrupting her having sex with her boyfriend.

* DwindlingParty: The aliens round up all six teens while in the house. Zack is the first to go, Danny and Shawn are never seen again after the aliens barge in likely meaning they were brought to the spaceship, the remaining three are thrown into the lake before running off into the woods where they get snatched one by one with Gary the last one remaining getting beamed up into the aliens spaceship.
* FreeRangeChildren: Randy and Gary see their parents' absence as a golden opportunity to run wild and have fun. The parents did trust the teens (Zack and Jen) to be looking out for them, but those two would rather be partying, swimming and having sex than babysitting.
* TheGreys: The aliens look like this, though much more taller than the standard depiction. They look like Greys crossed with [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Deep Ones]], actually, considering [[spoiler: their aquatic faculties]]. It's also rare in sci-fi that grey aliens are taller (let alone same height) than humans.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Zack after arming himself with his dad's shotgun volunteers to go protect everyone, but fails and gets captured. Later on, Jen sacrifices herself so that Gary and Tank can get away, though it's wasted when he's nevertheless captured moments later]].
* HollywoodDarkness: The aliens wait until night for the invasion. They were always there even in broad daylight, and when night comes they cut the power to the house so that their spaceships remain the only source of light to easily lure in the humans. [[TheBadGuyWins It works]].
* IdiotBall: The teens use their dog as the cameraman for their Go Pro helmet camera, but they never bother to check the film at all as the dog spotted an alien in the lake.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The teenagers and children are cruel and play sick pranks just to be {{troll}}s but the alien invasion makes them band together.
* KickTheDog: The Greys literally do this. [[spoiler: It also crosses into ShootTheDog, as they're only interested in the humans, allowing poor [[IronicName Tank]] to drop from a good two-story height]].
* MonsterThreatExpiration: The aliens, which were initially shown to aptly strike at lightning speeds, walk and crawl towards the children at the pace of the dead in the subsequent scene.
* MoodWhiplash: While all segments do have a shift in tone from good to horrible, "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" has the strongest one mainly because of the ear-piercing [[VisualPun white noise]] that suddenly interrupted the teenagers' laughing and pranks on each other.

* OffTheShelfFX: The shots from the dog's point of view are achieved with a camera attached to an Series/{{Alf}} doll: Since all you see of the dog stand-in is a pair of furry ears, this isn't too obvious.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Gary screams this to Tank as [[spoiler: the aliens are taking him away on their UFO]].
* PoliceAreUseless: The cops that Jen called never arrive. The police siren and lights going off in the woods that the teenagers encounter [[spoiler: turns out to be a trap set up by the aliens]]. Who knows where the real cops were while the kids were running through the woods getting chased by aliens.
* ShoutOut: The Greys appear to be modeled after ''[[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]]'', who also mostly targets human children/teens, is incredibly tall and slender, associated with white lights and capable of ear-piercing sounds.
* TheSlacker: Jen has an important exam that's either tomorrow or 2 days later, but she'd rather be swimming in a pier with her boyfriend and throwing a party at home with him.
* SurpriseCreepy: ''Slumber Party Alien Abduction'' starts off fairly lighthearted, with two teenagers playing with their dog, having their friends come over for the titular slumber party, and pranking their older sister and her boyfriend with water guns and strobe lights [[spoiler: ...but then the aliens arrive.]]
* TeensAreMonsters: These teenagers can get as creative with their bullying as the typical guard at Guantanamo Bay's detention camp. They lock up a little boy inside a dog cage, spray him with aerosol and leave him bent over with no room to stretch.

''V/H/S/2'' is a 2013 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film featuring segments directed by Simon Barnett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and Jason Eisener. It is a sequel to 2012's ''[[{{Film/VHS}} V/H/S]]''. A follow-up sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014 and a third one, ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]],'' was released on October 6, 2021. A fourth sequel, ''[[Film/VHS99 V/H/S/99]]'', is set to debut on Shudder October 20, 2022.

''V/H/S/2'' is a 2013 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film featuring segments directed by Simon Barnett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and Jason Eisener. It is a sequel to 2012's {{Film/VHS}}. A follow-up sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014 and a third one, ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]],'' was released on October 6, 2021. A fourth sequel, ''[[Film/VHS99 V/H/S/99]]'', is set to debut on Shudder October 20, 2022.

''V/H/S/2'' is a 2013 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film featuring segments directed by Simon Barnett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and Jason Eisener. It is a sequel to 2012's {{Film/VHS}}. A follow-up sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014 and a third one, ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]],'' was released on October 6, 2021.

* DistractedByTheSexy: A unique horror and matter-of-survival variant of this trope, Clarissa attempts to get Herman's mind off the ghosts by flashing her huge boobs and preparing to have sex with him because as she explained, if Herman keeps paying attention to the ghosts, they grow more powerful.

''V/H/S/2'' is a 2013 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film featuring segments directed by Simon Barnett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and Jason Eisener. It is a sequel to 2012's {{Film/VHS}}. A follow-up sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014 and a third one, ''[[{{Film/VHS94}} V/H/S/94]],'' is scheduled for relase on October 6, 2021.

* AffablyEvil: Every bad guy but particularly The Father and the man with the shotgun who requests Adam (albeist somewhat aggressively) not to interrupt while he is about to blow the [[spoiler: {{Decoy Protagonist}}'s]] brains out. After completing the deed, he thanks Adam and [[spoiler: blows his own brains out]].

* NonindicativeName: The segment's title doesn't say anything about zombies, and while a ride in the park does appear, it's only an insignificant detail.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: They're all around us, but rarely are people able to sense them. When you can, the ghosts can tell, and the more you interact with them- i.e. even so much as ''look at them''- the more they can interact with you in turn. And they're not kind.

* DwindlingParty: The aliens round up all six teens while in the house. Zack is the first to go, Danny and Shawn are never seen again after the aliens barge in likely meaning they were brought to the spaceship, the remaining three are thrown into the lake before running off into the woods where they get snatched one by one with Gary the last one to be abducted being visibly pulled up by alien technology.

* IdiotBall: The teens using a dog instead of one of their own heads to record videos with the [=GoPro=] didn't turn out to be such a good idea since the dog couldn't warn them about an alien hiding in their lake which got caught on camera.

* HollywoodDarkness: The aliens wait until night for the invasion. They were always there even in broad daylight, and when night comes they cut the power to the house so that their spaceships remain the only source of light to more easily lure in the humans.

''V/H/S/2'' is a 2013 FoundFootage {{anthology}} film featuring segments directed by Simon Barnett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and Jason Eisener. It is a sequel to 2012's {{Film/VHS}}. A follow-up sequel entitled ''Film/VHSViral'' was released October 23, 2014.

* MadeOfIron: Mike as a zombie is able to endure two baseball bat swings, a pitchfork, a bullet and even getting run over. Somehow even the camera survives all that abuse.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:At the end, Mike becomes cognizant enough to recognize the voice of his girlfriend on his phone and kills himself.]]

* PerspectiveFlip: Usually zombie films require you to see from the side of the alive humans at a third-person narrative. "A Ride in the Park" shows you a first-person perspective from the zombie's eyes. It turns out that the humans aren't that much less dangerous to the zombies than vice versa, as Mike was shot and stabbed and beaten up with a baseball bat just for being a zombie.

* WhatHaveIDone: Zombie Mike when he regained his memories and consciousness before re-animating back was probably thinking this as he just killed a few people and tried to kill more.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Averted in ''Safe Haven'' and entirely in ''Slumber Party Alien Abduction''. Possibly played straight in ''A Ride in the Park'' since we see the father and his three children leave, but the fate of the other children that were at the party including the birthday girl is left unclear.]]
** [[spoiler:The dead girl in ''Phase I Clinical Trials'' is also an aversion. Herman doesn't answer when Clarissa asks if he's ever hurt anybody, and considering he had an eye injury from a car accident, it's implied his accident killed both the girl and her father.]]

* AliensAreBastards: Being aliens, their morality and ideology could be colder and harsher than that of humans. They ruthlessly pursue and try to abduct the humans, and they have no qualms about violently shoving the dog if it gets in their way or [[spoiler:indirectly causing the dog's death with their tractor beam]].

* LongList: Randy's dad wants him and Gary to do chores to the point that he made a list of it before driving elsewhere on what's likely a second honeymoon with his wife. They exempt their daughter Jen from doing any chores cause she has an exam coming up.

* AliensAreBastards: Being aliens, their morality and ideology could be colder and harsher than that of humans.

* ''A Ride in the Park'': With a camera mounted on his helmet cyclist Mike Sullivan goes for a bike ride in a state park. During his ride, Mike is attacked and bitten by a zombie. He eventually dies from his wounds, reanimates, and attacks a married couple, who become zombies themselves. The threat escalates when the zombified trio begin [[ZombieApocalypse terrorizing a birthday party]].

* ''Tape 49'': The wraparound. A pair of private investigators break and enter into the house of a college student (Kyle) after his mother hasn't heard from him for a couple days.
* ''Phase I Clinical Trials'': A man undergoes an experimental procedure in which he has an eye with a camera put into it which records everything. It's not before long until he starts seeing dead people.
* ''A Ride in the Park'': A bicyclist is bitten by a zombie before he turns, bites a married couple and [[ZombieApocalypse terrorizes a birthday party]].
* ''[[IronicNickname Safe]] [[BlatantLies Haven]]'': A news channel crew goes to investigate an Indonesian cult. This is also the longest segment.
* ''[[AlienInvasion Slumber Party Alien Abduction]]'': A bunch of children and teenagers play cruel pranks on each other before aliens come to abduct them.

* ForeShadowing: When Herman and Clarissa discuss the ghosts, Herman suggests removing his implant to get rid of them. Clarissa shoots this down, saying that it'll only keep Herman from seeing the ghosts instead of outright getting rid of them. At the end of the segment, Herman uses a straight razor to cut out the implant. Just as Clarissa said, this does nothing to help him, and the ghosts still proceed to kill him.

** Her implicitly CreepyUncle's ghost suggests she's [[PromiscuityAfterRape used to using]] SexAsSolace to cope with [[RapeAsBackstory his past abuse of her]].

* YourCheatingHeart: This is actually a major plot point.

* TheGreys: The aliens in look like this, though much more taller than the standard depiction. They look like Greys crossed with [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Deep Ones]], actually, considering [[spoiler: their aquatic faculties]]. It's also rare in sci-fi that grey aliens are taller (let alone same height) than humans.

* ShoutOut: The Greys appear to be modeled after ''[[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]]'' more so than traditional grey aliens, who also mostly targets human children/teens, is incredibly tall and slender, associated with white lights and capable of ear-piercing sounds.

* DistractedByTheSexy: A unique horror and matter-of-survival variant of this trope, Clarissa attempts to get Herman's mind off the ghosts by flashing her huge boobs and preparing to have sex with them because as she explained, if Herman keeps paying attention to the ghosts, they grow more powerful.

* DyingAsYourself: An undead Mike accidentally dials his girlfriend’s voice message and the sound of her voice seems to reawaken some vestiges of humanity within him. Realising his horrific state, he proceeds to grab a nearby discarded shotgun and [[MercyKill put him]][[DrivenToSuicide self down.]]