V/H/S: Viral (2014)


The V/H/S series is spotty in quality from segment to segment in the best of times, and the best was definitely V/H/S/2.  While V/H/S did have some good segments from known or up-and-coming directors, the second pared things down to just three segments and a wraparound.  The contributions were of fairly high quality as well.  

Then came V/H/S: Viral.  Just the name seems to disappoint, hinting at the idea of viral videos instead of old video tapes, the latter of which seemed to add a bit of a creep factor to the first two films.  While it still tries to maintain some of the feel of old-school recording it does go beyond that in numerous segments and, unlike the first two, the wraparound doesn't add much to the proceedings.  It is a significant drop in quality, although it's not all a waste.

Kev (Patrick Lawrie) is obsessed with taping about everything, something his girlfriend Iris (Emilia Ares) initially is fine with but later comes to find quite annoying.  When a police chase is going to be going by their building Kev is insistent on capturing it, but instead loses Iris as a possible kidnap victim to the driver of the truck.  Kev then pursues, hoping to get Iris back as well as footage that will go viral and make him famous.

While that is happening we see three separate stories.  One is "Dante the Great", about a magician (Justin Welborn) that comes into possession of a cloak that grants the wearer real magic - as long the cloak is fed, of course.  Second, a man named Alfonso (Gustavo Salmerón) invents a portal that allows him to see into and travel to alternate dimensions.  A different version of him manages to do the same and the two agree to switch realities for 15 minutes, only to find out things are not as similar as they appear.  Last, a group of skateboarders head down to Tijuana to film a skating vehicle in an isolated drainage ditch, only to run into a violent cult. 

The idea behind the "Dante the Great" segment isn't bad, but it has been done many times before and, in this case, is a bit rushed.  Things happen, there is a good jump scare, but there is no attempt to build up any connection with the characters or any interest in what is happening.  The second segment, "Parallel Monsters", is much better, but again the story needed to be developed further.  Although this is an anthology film many in the past have been able to do so despite the shorter segments.  As for the last story, "Bonestorm", it has some decent makeup and effects work but the kids in it are too annoying to care what happens to them, and the scenes of fighting on a Go-Pro are laughable.

As for "Vicious Circles", the main story, it has a few interesting detours, but ultimately falls flat.  From I understand the following V/H/S movies kind of recover from this one, even though Viral isn't as horrid as it is made out to be.  It's also not essential watching as much of the style that made the first two interesting has vanished by this point. 

V/H/S: Viral (2014)
Time: 81 minutes
Starring: Patrick Lawrie, Emilia Ares, Justin Welborn, Emmy Argo, Gustavo Salmerón, Marian Álvarez, Nick Blanco, Chase Newton, Shane Brady, Peter Villalba
Directors: Marcel Sarmiento, Gregg Bishop, Nacho Vigalando, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Todd Lincoln

 

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