The horror anthology flick V/H/S graced our screens last year as part of the NZ International Film Festival, and is due for DVD release in February. Attempting to reinvigorate the found-footage sub-genre, the film provided some decent scares but was, unfortunately, very inconsistent. The idea was good though, so it’s not surprising a sequel’s on its way. So here’s our first look at S-VHS courtesy of this teaser trailer released over the weekend.

This time out the wrap-around story which ties the short film segments together involves detectives searching for a missing student. When they break into his house the detectives discover a collection of VHS tapes, the contents of which may unveil the motives behind the student’s disappearance…

…which all sounds a bit more coherent than the first attempt. If reviews coming out of Sundance are to be believed, this film is a vast improvement on the original.

For S-VHS, director Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way to Die) and writer Simon Barrett are back for a second term – with Barret directing this time too. Gareth Evans (The Raid), Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun), Gregg Hale (Say Yes Quickly), Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), and Eduardo Sanchez (Altered) also join in the fun. Take a look:

We don’t see a lot but it appears there are some much larger things going bump in the night this time around… with a few zombies thrown in for good measure. Like the first film there will be great segments and not-so-great segments, but I have a feeling more will be on the positive side of the ledger this time – lessons learned and all that.

It’s a shame David Bruckner (The Signal) isn’t returning. His short in V/H/S was by far the best. But I have high hopes for Gareth Evans’ and Jason Eisener’s segments, as I thoroughly enjoyed their recent feature films.

You keen for a second anthological fright fest?

Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance.

Directed by Adam Wingard, Jason Eisener, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez and Simon Barrett, the anthology stars Kelsey Abbot, L.C. Holt, Hannah Hughes, Lawrence Michael Levine and Adam Wingard.

S-VHS doesn’t have a New Zealand release date yet. Hopefully this will at least get a festival screening.