Fantastic Fest 2014: V/H/S: VIRAL – The Review

What started as a clever way of combining the current found footage trend and fun anthology horror has now become an annual series that many genre fans have embraced. V/H/S: VIRAL, the third entry into the found footage series, delves into more action territory than straight-forward horror. I guess a change of pace isn’t a bad thing. Though some fans might be put off by this. The wrap around features a chase through the streets of LA (“Vicious Circles”), the first story includes an aerodynamic fight between magicians over a mysterious cloak (“Dante the Great”), and the final story includes a burly brawl featuring kids using their skateboards to fend off possessed demons (“Bonestorm”). A lot of excitement is created by these three stories but the feeling of dread or fear is nowhere to be found. All of these amount to an anthology that doesn’t aim for the jugular like its predecessors. Less time is spent on building actual scares which fans of the series may take issue with. This could mostly be due to the fact that this film only has three shorts and one wrap-around, making this the shortest of the three films. The first film consisted of five shorts and a wrap-around and the second had four and a wrap-around. Apparently one short was in fact excised from VIRAL due to the producers not being happy with it – granted, this is just what I heard. One more solid short really could have made all the difference.

When dealing with a series of shorts you are always going to have one that soars above the rest. The one that is a perfect balance of character, story, and thrills, all packed in a short but neat package. With V/H/S it was definitely the haunted house segment “10/31/98.” With V/H/S/2 it was the creepy cult “Safe Haven.” And this year, the award from VIRAL goes to Nacho Vigalondo’s short “Parallel Monsters.” He incorporates similiar ideas from his fantastic feature TIMECRIMES but places them even more into the horror arena. A time travel device opens an alternate universe that appears to mirror the current one. The inventor swaps places with his double but what he doesn’t expect is to step into a dark and sexual nightmare that is equal parts funny and grossly bizarre. This simple concept excels by slowly ratcheting the tension into Vigalondo finally delivers a visual punch that will completely blind-side you.

The wrap-around short that is supposed to be the connective tissue to all the parts is much more ambitious than previous entries. An attempt is made to build a larger universe embodying the ever watchful recording eye for all of these videos. It’s a half-baked idea but is worthy of applause since it’s not just another story of people breaking into a house and finding home videos.

You should know by now whether or not VIRAL is going to be for you or not. The visual shakiness, tracking lines, and “video glitches” are all still intact which is a stylistic choice that is still hard for me to enjoy. That being said, the series thus far has served to introduce young horror fans to some of the most talented and creative minds that have been active in the genre. The found footage angle might not be the best use of their talent, but if this encourages someone to go seek out DANCE OF THE DEAD, DEADGIRL, TIMECRIMES, and this year’s fest favorite SPRING (set to be released next March), than V/H/S: VIRAL at least serves as an advertisement for emerging talent.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5