Two investigators tracking the disappearance of a student break into an abandoned house to find a collection of VHS tapes strewn around an ominous, flickering AV setup. Each unmarked cassette reveals traces of the paranormal, the flesh-eating undead, evil alien invaders and an apocalyptic vision of hell on earth. Drawn closer to the warbling static, the obsessed trespassers fall prey to the unforeseen doom of the inhabited home.

This highly anticipated next installment to last year’s midnight sensation V/H/S features segments from contemporary genre film’s leading talents. Jason Eisener’s frenetic entry recalls ’80s pre-teen adventure movies as pranking adolescents run terrified from otherworldly visitors. Blair Witch Project innovators Gregg Hale and Eduardo Sánchez return with a singular slant on the perspective of gut-hungry zombies. Adam Wingard provides perhaps the most first-person viewpoint, capturing apparitional menaces via a cybernetic eye. With every turn of a corner, unimaginable satanic forces spawn to sounds of air raid sirens in Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Evans’s godless joint effort. Contained within Simon Barrett’s chilling wraparound segment, V/H/S/2 is an expansive portmanteau of clever unrestrained brutality and fun.

—Mallory Lance