MovieChat Forums > V/H/S/2 (2013) Discussion > I don't understand how anybody could pre...

I don't understand how anybody could prefer the first

posted 11 years ago by Bens_Basement
18 replies | jump to latest

I like VHS as it was unpredictable and creepy but it was a downright badly made movie if you judge it on a technical level. The short in the woods with the staticky serial killer is particularly AWFUL.

Not only does VHS2 feel more professional (it's actually in HD for one) there's actual writing and plotting here rather than random things happening to random people. The zombie POV short was genius when it threw in the zombies interior struggle and self realisation. And the demon cult short was exhilarating to watch, reminded me of [REC] in the way it escalated so quickly.

VHS has two incredibly strong shorts (1st and last) but the others are weak and the wrap around is a total mess not only due to writing but also it's indecipherable camerawork. This sequel maintains a steady quality throughout. I look forward to a third!

My Captain Phillips review bit.ly/1eZxapV

[–] svalinanikola 11 years ago

I don't see how the first one was unpredictable, what was so unpredictable about it?

As for VHS2 having actual plotting, I think only Save Haven has that, the first segment has the worst thing from the first one, second one exists just for a cheap gimmick and the alien one also doesn't really have much plot.

[–] Charlie_Foxtrot_Company 11 years ago

Not everyone prefers Resident Evil style action horror, moron. Who gives a fck if part two is in HD? It was creepier when it was low resolution. You must be smoking crack if you think part 2 had better plotting or writing. A cliche ghost story, a cliche cult segment, a somewhat different zombie story and an alien abduction. Wow mindblowing.

[–] prbronx5 11 years ago

I actually prefered part 2. For one, it was shorter, thus faster paced. The first one was two hours and felt like three. I had to watch it in two sittings because it bored me.

Part 2 also had better segments, the best being Ride In The Park & Safe Haven, though the others weren't as bad as any in Part 1.

Yes, the first segment in Part 1 was ok, but it was still kinda hokey. The rest of the stories were awful. Especially that digital noise killer in the woods story.

[–] acdc363 11 years ago

I agree with you so much. IMO literally every segment in the sequel was better than any segment in the first. I almost didn't watch VHS 2 because I thought the first was so bad. The one with the couple in the motel (which followed arguably the "best" segment) was nearly unwatchable. The haunted house at the end was cool though too I loved the SFX. But every segment in VHS 2 actually told me a story and I was surprisingly impressed!

[–] svalinanikola 11 years ago

And the stories from the first one weren't cliche?

[–] Charlie_Foxtrot_Company 11 years ago

I never said they weren't. I was calling the OP on his BS as another Safe Haven dick rider.

[–] Scribblenaut 11 years ago

I feel that the second film is only better from a technical standpoint. Safe Haven and Ride in the Park were really the only stand outs. Alien Abduction Slumber Party used some cool camera tricks and sound editing, but the aliens, themselves, were pretty cheesy looking and the acting was bad.

I think the reason those 2 stand out is because they gave us a complete story, instead of showboating their technical prowess on a limited budget. All of the stories in the first one felt whole.

Also, I'm surprised no one's pissing and moaning about the awful over-arching story tying the film together. That's all anyone bitches about on the first one.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] prbronx5 11 years ago

I think the only thing wrong with the movie, was that they placed Safe Haven, before Alien Abduction Slumber Party. If they had placed Safe Haven at the very end, it would ended the movie with a bang.

I watched it again with a group of friends and we all enjoyed it. Most of friends were freaked out by the last two segments.

[–] Sarcinelli86 11 years ago

I like the first better because the segments could have been taken as "true events", it left me wondering if the tapes were a "real" snuff video collection or not.

In VHS2 the segments, although good, were over the top. No way a zombie apocalypse or the coming of Beelzebub could have been "real" or happened in the same universe as the wrap around segment.

[–] svalinanikola 11 years ago

The only story from the first one that could've been real was Second Honeymoon. The others were just as unbelievable as the ones in 2.

[–] Sarcinelli86 11 years ago

Not real, "real" as plausible inside the movie universe. The segments in VHS 1 wouldn't have effect on the movie universe as a whole and were more a kind of isolated happenings.

In VHS 2, we would have seen from the start (wrap around segment) if the movie universe was ravaged by a zombie apocalypse or by the coming of a demon since the events on the tapes supposedly happens prior to it (wrap around segment)...

[–] svalinanikola 11 years ago

Maybe those things were stopped?

Besides, don't you think the girl from the final tape in the first movie would affect the world?

[–] BeOneOfUs 10 years ago

I like the first better because the segments could have been taken as "true events", it left me wondering if the tapes were a "real" snuff video collection or not.

You genuinely wondered whether any of the segments from VHS1 were real? I swear every time I come on this site, I read a comment like that and once again my faith in humanity drops even lower.

[–] Davole45 11 years ago

So higher resolution makes a better move? You must be thrilled with the CGI abuse in any movie that has any action in it.

[–] sarasama 11 years ago

I totally preferred the sequel. I found the first one really dull. The stories in the second one were far fetched but more entertaining.

[–] ProfSpielberg 11 years ago

The constituent films in the first one were a bit more clever and a bit creepier. In VHS2 they're all bigger and louder-- only "Safe Haven" layers in any mystery or foreboding at the outset, and the frame story is just phoned-in. Mostly the second movie comes across like the first movie's Halloween story on PCP