V/H/S: Viral (2014)

Back in 2012, a new horror anthology graced the big and small screens and gave us new horror filmmakers, great stories, and scared the living daylights out of us. That anthology was called 'V/H/S', named after the popular home video format from the 80s and early 90s and consisted of 4 different short films with a 5th overall wrap- around movie to tie everything together. Each segment is directed by someone different in the horror genre and every filmmaker's unique stamp is imprinted in their own portion.Since the first 'V/H/S' was so successful and became an instant cult hit, the following year, they made 'V/H/S 2', which followed the same formula and was even better than the first go around. Now in 2014, we have the third installment and possibly the final film called 'V/H/S 3: Viral'. This time around, there are only three segments with a wrap around storyline, and instead of the whole VHS angle, this is more about things being filmed with a mobile phone and being uploaded to the internet, hence the 'Viral' aspect.The wrap around story is quite cool and features a a young couple watching a live police chase happening in their neighborhood. Once they see it coming down their street, they boyfriend uses his mobile phone to record the police chase in hopes that it goes viral online. That brings us to our first segment called 'Dante The Great', directed by Gregg Bishop (Dance of the Dead), which tells the story of a famous magician and the mysterious murders and disappearances of his female assistants. Dante (Justin Welborn) comes across a cloak, which is said to belong to the great Harry Houdini. Once he has the cloak, he is able to pull off any illusion with great ease, but there is something sinister about the cloak that might be the key to all these murders. This segment had both the found footage aspect as well as a straight narrative, but the special effects were pretty amazing, and Welborn did a great job as a sadistic and mad magician.The second segment was by far my favorite and was directed by the legendary Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes). His segment is called 'Parallel Monsters' and was the right amount of screwed up and scary that he can make a feature length movie out of this. This short starts off with an inventor who builds a machine in his basement that connects him to a parallel universe. Once this is open, he sees the mirror image of himself and his house. The two dopplegangers are friendly and are equally excited about this invention. They both decide to take 15 minutes to cross over into each other's universe and explore the similarities and differences. But once they do, we see that there are more things that are different than the same as we see bags dripping with blood and guts hanging around the house, blood orgies, sirens, and a satanic cult presence everywhere. And just when you think you've seen it all, Nacho adds a level of horror and shock that would make the Japanese horror film genre beg for mercy. It's quite amazing.And the last segment is called 'Bonestorm' and is directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead(Spring). This piece is all sorts of fun and the premise is very simple. We meet a few jerk-off skateboarders who are trying to make their 'sponsor' video by pulling obnoxious pranks and skateboarding on city property. The four skateboarders head to Tijuana, Mexico to film their last scene in their video when a satanic and supernatural demon cult shows up and starts attacking them. Then this film turns into a video game like simulation as the skateboarders in first person mode use their skateboards, ninja swords, and anything else they can get their hands on to kill these demons from hell. It will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire battle.I really hope that this isn't the last film in the 'V/H/S' series, because if it is, I feel like it would have went out with a whimper rather than a bang. That being said, this third installment still has some fantastic moments that is guaranteed to thrill you, chill you, and fulfill you.

"V/H/S: Viral" was kind of crap, considering the 2 other movies in the trilogy.While the first two movies in the "V/H/S" series weren't amazing, they were at least entertaining, and were pretty good at the art of suspense (at least most of them were). They also kept to the title, and the entirety of both "V/H/S" and "V/H/S/2" looked like they were found on VHS tapes.Not "Viral" though.I guess they just decided to drop that idea, which was the first problem. The second and most apparent problem is that "Viral" is not scary. The three segments are imaginative, and maybe if they were lengthened, they could be a stand-alone movie. But they weren't scary. Not in the slightest. Some were bloody, but blood does not make a scene scary. And not to mention that they effects were lackluster. In the segment "Bonestorm", there is a part where the character "Filmer" gets his arm ripped off. But the effect looked so fake, that it was enough it make me laugh out loud. This was the effect of uninspired editing, which, now that I think about it, sums up this whole movie. Uninspired. If you are a fan of the "V/H/S" series, I say disregard this movie, and take V/H/S/2 as the last movie in the series. Because this will only leave you unsatisfied.

I've seen all of the movies in this series, and I've liked them all till now. The first movie was very unique and intriguing whereas second one had a handful of good moments.I was expecting something like that with this as well. Sadly my expectations were far from being met. As a fan of the series, I can say that this movie is a disaster.Not a segment works at its favour. The wrap around deals with a guy riding around his cycle looking for his kidnapped girlfriend. It interjects itself a lot twixt the other segments. I guess this was interesting enough to keep me watching the whole movie.The 1st segment had a lot of laugh-worthy moments. It just is so bad. The acting, the direction, the plot, everything works against it. It deals with an ambitious magician losing his mind.The 2nd segment was mediocre at best. It deals with a guy who creates a machine that connects his world with a parallel universe, and everything goes awry for him. Had a handful of laugh-worthy and gross moments (if you watch it you'll see what I mean). Again the plot and the acting is mediocre here as well.The 3rd segment should not have been there. It deals with a group of skateboarding youngster being target of crazy cultists. The synopsis might sound interesting right? But it's the worst thing about the movie. It's laugh-fest wholly, there wasn't a moment I didn't laugh when watching this one because the acting and the direction was so horrible.I guess this is what they mean when they say "so bad, it made me laugh", because this movie gave me that same feeling. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a horror, but it'd be an enjoyable movie if you want something to laugh at.

I have recently just discovered the V/H/S movie franchise. I thoroughly enjoyed V/H/S and actually liked V/H/S 2 more than the first installment. After a day of binge watching the first two movies, i decided to give the third installment, V/H/S: Viral, a shot. That was an incredibly poor choice on my part. V/H/S: Viral consists of 3 shorts (was originally 4 before one of them was cut for not fitting the film's "theme") and the usual wrap-around story. The first short, Dante the Great, was a blatant disgrace to the V/H/S franchise. This short wasn't scary at all and seemed to be a mockery of the whole series. The second short, Parallel Monsters, although not being that great, is the clear winner out of this trio of terrible shorts. Parallel Monsters wasn't exactly scary, but it had that disturbing sense of uneasiness displayed throughout the short that the V/H/S franchise has been known for. The last short, Bonestorm, is the closest short to match the form of the first two films. It consists of some unsuspecting people stumbling upon something disturbing (the usual concept). The only thing stopping this short from reaching the top of the charts, is the horribly annoying acting displayed by the characters. The wrap-around story, Vicious Circles, is so disgustingly incoherent and an absolute headache to follow that I actually had to reach out to the internet to find a dumbed down summary of this story. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone, it's an absolute disgrace to the franchise. If you're a fan of the first two V/H/S films, stay far, far, FAR away from this horrendous installment.