3 of 7 viewers "Liked" "V/H/S: Viral" (USA, 2014)
Here's what the citizens of the Overlook Theatre had to say:
The Impostor - "I loved the first 2 VHS films and was really excited for the third installment even though new directors were involved. VHS Viral was pretty awful and to me the story did not make sense or tie together the stories like the first 2 films kinda did. A fourth short was taken out of the film as well, I'm assuming that was horrible as well. No short stood out too much 4 me, the last segment was kinda cool but overall not as fun as the first 2 films. So sad this is how the VHS trilogy ends." - 2 Stars
Math Mage - "2 of the 4 films were amazing (3rd & 4th) but 50% is an F." - 2 Stars
Huntress - "As a whole this movie was incredibly upsetting, not because it broke the rules of found footage, but because it exploited the genre's characteristics in order to make a half assed movie. Only 2 of the shorts are worth anybody's time, the rest of the movie gives people more reasons to say they're sick of found footage." - 3 Stars
KillDozer - "I would gladly sit through the garbage of the bad wrap-around story, the cheesy Magician, and the other crap just to relive Bone Storm!!!" - 2 Stars (Not collection worthy)
B4DK - "First few min not that great. The other dimension and skater vids make up for the other BS!" - 3 Stars
Book Wyrm - "I like the VHS franchise and this one disappointed me. I liked the short stories which is why I gave it a 4, but the main story confused me and I couldn't tell you what it's about. I felt everyone was too harsh but I think their views are valid." - 4 Stars
The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*
First I'd like to start by saying we screened this film from VOD so the version we saw did not include the later added short "Gorgeous Vortex". With that said, this film may have caused me the most stress I've ever experienced during a screening. KillDozer and B4DK were still pretty new to the group when we reviewed this film and they are accustomed to turning off terrible films. Now when I have a group over to review, we sit through EVERYTHING, this is a promise I made a long time ago and one I think is very important. Needless to say we pushed through, and found a silver lining to this story that goes by the name "Bone Storm". Directed by the same guys who brought us "Resolution" (Justin Benson & Aaron Scott Moorhead), "Bone Storm" is like a short horror film shot by Larry Clark, complete with authentic kids with their cringe worthy dialogue and some awesome skate/skeleton action! "Bone Storm" isn't only the short film that saved the day but it also made my seemingly stubborn rule, look like an enlightened decree. There is another note worthy film within called "Parallel Monsters" directed by Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes, Open Windows). This film didn't receive the same praise as "Bone Storm" because it got polarizing responses from the reviewers.
The number 1 problem everyone had with this film was the horrible, rule breaking, and utterly confusing wrap-around story. It's just not fun to watch and the way the short films are worked in doesn't even come close to how the first 2 set them up (like the movies or not, you knew what was going on). As far as the breaking the found footage rule goes, the first short is a main offender. I've heard other people discuss the short and mention how it ignored the rules and most people seem to not care. I got the feeling the rest of the film would do the same, which made me want to turn it off, thankfully we were screening it so this was not an option.
I honestly would buy this film just to show people the two good shorts (and finish the VHS trilogy on my shelf). I really can't recommend this film in any way and the fact it got 2.5 stars just shows how 2 awesome shorts can't save a weak anthology.
- Lord Battle
The number 1 problem everyone had with this film was the horrible, rule breaking, and utterly confusing wrap-around story. It's just not fun to watch and the way the short films are worked in doesn't even come close to how the first 2 set them up (like the movies or not, you knew what was going on). As far as the breaking the found footage rule goes, the first short is a main offender. I've heard other people discuss the short and mention how it ignored the rules and most people seem to not care. I got the feeling the rest of the film would do the same, which made me want to turn it off, thankfully we were screening it so this was not an option.
I honestly would buy this film just to show people the two good shorts (and finish the VHS trilogy on my shelf). I really can't recommend this film in any way and the fact it got 2.5 stars just shows how 2 awesome shorts can't save a weak anthology.
*Based on the star ratings turned in by character reviewers, others viewed and got to "Dislike" or "Like" but that does not effect the rating.
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