Director: Justin Benson, Gregg Bishop, Todd Lincoln, Aaron Moorhead, Marcel Sarmiento, Nacho Vigalondo.
Cast: Justin Welborn, Emilia Zoryan.
Certificate: 18.
Running Time: 97 minutes.
Synopsis: Another set of found footage horror segments comes to life in V/H/S VIRAL. A strange ice-cream van is circling a neighbourhood, a magician has a cloak with demonic powers, two identical men from parallel universes open a gateway, and some skaters take on undead skeletons.
Found footage films and anthology pictures are usually a very mixed bag. The very nature of the anthology means you’re in for a mixed experience as to which individual features you prefer. The V/H/S series, for my money at least, has given us a pair of very strong films. Each one had moments which terrified me and also contained stories that were absolute classics and could have even sustained a full film by themselves. V/H/S VIRAL is certainly the lesser of the three, with three very good individual sequences but nothing that truly shook me to my core. This could possibly be that I watched the first two on my laptop in what was a more claustrophobic and intimate experience. On the big screen, I felt safer and more relaxed.
The way in which I experienced the films isn’t the only thing that sets this apart from its predecessors though. This time the wrap-around story which attempts to link all the segments together is a much more complicated affair and is also the main focus throughout. The previous films had a very simplistic edge to them, whereas this time the connecting piece wishes to bring about a message all of its own as it looks at our incessant need to film everything and become a viral sensation. This is never fleshed out enough and it is never clear as to what is actually going on. A few creepy moments and grotesque visuals work nicely, but with no clear answers and always cutting back and forth from the film makes it very disjointed.
The first full story is Dante The Great, in which a magician acquires a cloak which gives incredible powers but needs to be fed. The format means that we don’t get much information, but that is absolutely perfect for such a tale. Whatever is powering that cloak is a complete terrifying mystery. The sequence is funny and original and plays nicely with the idea of blockbusting magicians and the occult. The effects are especially strong here, with each of the powers and tricks looking scarily real. Unfortunately, the film seems to drop the found-footage format during a fight sequence. This completely breaks you out of the film as you start to wonder where these cameras are and why they would even be there.
Nacho Vigalondo’s segment sees a scientist create a doorway to a parallel dimension where he encounters a version of himself. The two agree to switch places for 15 minutes and as you can imagine one holds darker secrets than the other. Here, Vigalondo does a great job of playing on our expectations. We know from the outset that these supposedly identical men will soon discover what their differences are and this anticipation makes the entire sequence a real treat. It goes bonkers and brilliant in a way you probably won’t expect.
The final part sees a group of skateboarding teens travel to Mexico where they unwittingly incur the wrath of some of the undead. It’s creepy and funny, and it’s fantastic to see more skeletal enemies rather than your average zombies. The footage is captured with great pace and excitement as the cameras are mounted to the skateboards as well as the skaters helmets, and the fact these are attached for their own video justifies the constant filming. It’s a frantic short with plenty of action and gruesome humour.
V/H/S VIRAL may not be as scary as the first two films in the series, but each segment is enjoyable in its own right. The wrap-around just confuses matters too much, and perhaps the simpler approach of a spooky VHS collection should return rather than furthering some connective plot. Although no masterpieces this time around, you’ll certainly find something to enjoy.
[usr=3]
Check Out More From London’s FrightFest Right Here!
