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V/H/S: Viral Movie Review

V/H/S: Viral is a 2014 anthology horror film directed by Nacho Vigalondo and Justin Benson among many others. It is the weakest entry in this found footage franchise.

The film’s segments include the story of a deranged illusionist who obtains a magical object of great power; a homemade machine that opens a door to a parallel world; and teenage skaters who unwittingly become targets of a Mexican death cult ritual. The main issue here is that the segments are not connected at all this time around. Not even a single connective tissue is anywhere to be found.

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And the segments are simply not that good with the exception of maybe some interesting concepts and intense sequences, but mostly this horror movie fails to creep audiences out properly. That prologue segment had a thrilling motorcycle chase sequence that is so actually a lot of electric fun, but that other than that solid part, none of the other plot points make sense nor are they memorable.

I know that the magician segment is the critics’ favorite, but to me it felt too silly to be taken seriously and simply not fitting for a V/H/S movie. Parallel Monsters is actually quite solid and with a good concept, but having in mind that it was directed by the great Nacho Vigalondo, I expected much more. It’s a shame that these great directors were saddled with this mediocre movie.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead end up even worse. You’d think that these high-concept SF thriller indie auteurs would do something interesting for this project, but they ended up making a skateboard story that is by far the least interesting of the bunch.

V/H/S: Viral is again as gross and as gory as you’d expect from the franchise, but gone are genuine creepiness and authenticity of at least some of the segments. This collection is the worst so far in the franchise, and although it has its moments and it is fun to watch, the scripts and the characters were very weak.

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