The Horror Show
V/H/S Viral
by Nacho Vigalondo, Marcel Sarmiento, Gregg Bishop, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead
Alright, so I’ve been sitting on this review for a while, mostly because I honestly couldn’t tell how I felt about this movie. One night in the middle of 2012, I randomly decided to watch a random horror movie on Netflix. I picked it entirely based on cover, it was a skull shaped stack of VHS tapes. That movie was V/H/S and I fell in love with it. It took found footage in directions I never even thought possible. The following year the sequel was released appropriately titled V/H/S 2. That movie was a complete let down, it got too sci-fi-y, had way too many shorts with zombies, and didn’t bring anything new to the genre. V/H/S Viral was released recently and it took me a while to figure out how I actually feel on this movie.
The wraparound, Vicious Circles, follows a boyfriend out to make the next big viral sensation. However, his girlfriend is abducted by an ice cream truck being chased by police. Meanwhile, the town is being driven mad by the viral phenomenon. People are all looking out for their fifteen minutes of fame. Sadly, the wraparound makes little to no sense and honestly I’m not entirely sure what happens at the end. The wraparound for the previous two films did its job successfully; to setup the other movies. Vicious Circle does not do this in any way, shape, or form. The other films are just kind of tossed in middle of the framing device. The segment started really strong and gave me a Cloverfield vibe. It mastered the feeling of a VHS that’s been recorded over in haste. It fell apart when the short started introducing the POV of other characters while the chase is going on. By the end of the movie, it lost all clarity and became just a confusing mess with no explanation as to why anything happened.
The first actual segment of the movie, Dante the Great abandoned horror entirely and became more like a thriller story about magic. It follows Dante, an aspiring magician, who discovered a magic cloak that granted him real magic abilities. The catch is the cloak requires human blood to perform tricks. However, his assistant catches on after her boyfriend mysteriously vanishes. It culminates in a magic fight between the two magicians. This short started with an interesting approach to found footage. It felt like an unaired episode of Dateline NBC. That’s at first but then it starts to get spliced into traditional filming inexplicably. In the climax, it feels like Gregg Bishop couldn’t figure out a way to make it found footage without reason, so he just shot it traditionally. As awesome as the magic fight was, the V/H/S franchise is an anthology series based on found footage films. That’s pretty much the only rule this series has. As offbeat as this segment is, it is actually a lot of fun but it doesn’t really feel like it belongs in the franchise.
Parallel Monsters is the strongest segment of the entire movie. A scientist creates a gateway to parallel dimensions and simultaneously another version of himself does the exact same thing. The two agree to switch universes for fifteen minutes before meeting back. Initially, the two worlds just appear to be mirror images of one another. Upon exploration, the scientist from our universe discovers that the alternate reality is much more sinister than it appears. Nacho Vigalondo really accomplished something cringe-worthy and amazing here. The viewer knows that somehow something terrible is going to happen and he uses that to his benefit. It slowly builds suspense by dancing around the differences and saves the reveal until the perfect moment. I really don’t want to say more because it would ruin the short. You’ll just have to trust me here that if there is one reason anyone should watch V/H/S Viral it’s this short.
Then, there is the final segment, Bonestorm. This segment follows a bunch of teens attempting to make a skate video, unfortunately, no one will let them skate. Their cameraman suggests they take a trip down to Tijauna to skate in an awesome ditch. While there, they stock up on some beers and fireworks. While the trio skates, they fail to notice a bloody pentagram on the ground. (Where there is a pentagram, a satanic Mexican cult is sure to follow.) They plan on sacrificing the boys to resurrect their demon overlord. However, the boys are armed with their skate boards and firecrackers. They won’t be going down without a fight. This particular segment got a lot of hate from what I’ve seen. Most people compare it to a cheap imitation of Safe Haven from the previous film. I can see where they are coming from but these are two entirely different movies. Safe Haven is tale that is built gradually through suspense with a drop of impending doom. Bonestorm is an experiment in camera work. It creates a lot of cool unique shots using a GoPro, which is quite uncommon in found footage. The point a lot of people miss is that this is not supposed to be a serious movie in the way Safe Haven was. This movie was just about having fun. Another missed point is that this movie successfully explains why the reason these kids were filming everything. They were filming a skate video and the never got a chance to turn their cameras off. Parallel Monster may have been the best segment this entire movie but Bonestorm was certainly my favorite. It wasn’t as deep as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s earlier success, Resolution, but it was tons of fun to watch and that’s all I can ask for.
V/H/S Viral isn’t the best in the trilogy but it isn’t the worst. The primary reason that it came off weaker was the confusing, boring, and relatively pointless wrap around. That alone doesn’t hinder this movie. The next issue I have with it is that it’s the shortest of all three movies. Not including wrap arounds, the first movie had five segments, the second had four, and this one only has three. Originally, Viral was supposed to have four segments. The fourth was called Gorgeous Vortex and for reasons unknown was cut from the final version of the movie. Not much is known about it and why it was cut. Common rumors are that it wasn’t completed in time, it’s supposed to get its own feature length movie, and countless others. Those are just rumors. Don’t quote me on this, but another rumor I heard was that, based on test screenings, Gorgeous Vortex was the highest rated of all four segments. Will it be included in the DVD release, will it get its own full length movie? To be honest I don’t know, but I hope one day to be able to see something come from it. Perhaps, its inclusion into V/H/S Viral would have made it the best film in the trilogy. After giving it much thought, I’m no longer undecided on this movie. I actually liked it. It got a lot of hate but I don’t care. Just give it a try and maybe you will like it too. Don’t always listen to what fans have to say about movies because, frankly, everyone is a critic.
Billy Wayne Martin, HMS
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