"Tape 49"/frame narrative

"Tape 49" is the frame narrative short for "V/H/S/2". Written and directed by Simon Barrett, this short movie is featured in between the other shorts in the film and acts as the context for why the others are playing.

This short, similarly to the first frame narrative, follows a group of shady people breaking into a house and discovering a collection of mysterious tapes. This time, it is a couple of private investigators who have been fired to find the missing son of a woman. Little do they know, the house is a trap and the tapes have a strange effect on the pair, leading to a horrifying conclusion.

This short connects with the first film by further exploring the effects and creation of the strange VHS tapes. This adds to the overall mystery and connecting plot of the entire series, and this short is arguably the most important one when it comes to understanding the series, despite how cryptic it it.

It is followed by "A Ride in the Park".

Plot
A college student's mother requests that a private investigator, Larry, and his girlfriend, Ayesha, also a private investigator, look into the disappearance of her son Kyle. After breaking into Kyle's residence, they discover a large stack of VHS tapes and a laptop that is still recording a video and also contains the tapes from the previous film, including Tape 56. On the laptop, Kyle discusses the VHS tapes, saying where he got one of the most recent ones, and Larry tells Ayesha to watch the tapes while he inspects the house. As Ayesha begins to watch "Phase I Clinical Trials", a figure peers out from the shadows and watches her.

Ayesha calls Larry into the room, and they discuss the tapes' legitimacy. Larry tells Ayesha to continue viewing the tapes, which Kyle's video explains must be watched in the proper order "to affect you".

After she finishes watching "A Ride in the Park", Larry re-enters the room and finds Ayesha in a hypnotized state with her nose bleeding. After being woken, Ayesha says she has a migraine. Larry leaves to find medicine, and a seemingly entranced Ayesha watches "Safe Haven". From the shadows, the figure crawls out and watches her.

Upon Larry's return, he discovers Ayesha has killed herself with a gun. A VHS tape with the word "WATCH" written on it in lipstick, lies beside her. Larry picks up the tape containing "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" and anxiously watches it.

Confused, Larry watches the webcam footage and sees Kyle explain that he and his mother want to make their own tape; Kyle then attempts suicide on-camera by shooting himself through his jaw, but seemingly survives, even though his lower jaw is completely shattered, and runs off moments before Larry and Ayesha enter the dorm. As Larry watches it, an undead Ayesha suddenly rises and attacks him. In self-defense, Larry breaks her neck and rushes into the other room as Ayesha chases after him on all fours. Larry hides in a closet and shoots Ayesha in the face when she finds him. Larry hears a strange gurgling sound and explores the closet only to find Kyle hiding in the back, revealing that Kyle has been hiding in the closet the whole time. Kyle lunges at Larry and strangles him to death. Afterward, Kyle gives the camera a "thumbs up", revealing the plan his mother and he came up with being a success, before turning off the camera.

Cast

 * Lawrence Michael Levine as Larry
 * Kelsy Abbott as Ayesha
 * L.C. Holt as Kyle
 * Simon Barrett as Steve
 * Mindy Robinson as Tabitha