NETFLIX AND KILL: V/H/S: VIRAL (2014) ***

I wasn’t much of a fan of the first two entries in the V/H/S anthology series.  Even though the franchise is of the Found Footage variety, I still decided to give this one a whirl.  Boy, I’m glad that I did.  Not only is this third installment a dramatic improvement in many ways, it’s one of the best Found Footage horror films ever made. 

The wraparound segment, Vicious Circles (**) is the weakest link.  A guy keeps filming his girlfriend with his new camera.  When he sees the cops closing in around his block, he decides to film all the excitement.  Meanwhile, his girlfriend gets captured by the lunatic driver of an ice cream truck and he desperately tries to rescue her.     

The Found Footage aesthetic is especially annoying in this segment.  The videotape footage is full of popping, scratching, and static, but it’s really overdone, almost to the point of parody.  Although there are some grisly moments here, like a guy losing his feet while being dragged by the speeding truck, the fractured narrative and odd plot detours (like a family barbecue that turns deadly) don’t really lend themselves to the wraparound format.  Luckily, the stories themselves are a lot of fun. 

The first tale is Dante the Great (***).  A failing magician finds a magic cloak that allows him to do amazing and impossible illusions.  He becomes an overnight sensation, but we soon learn that fame comes with a price:  He has to feed his assistants to the cloak in order to gain more power.   

This segment plays fast and loose with the form.  It’s not really a Found Footage flick, but more of a mockumentary.  The sequence where the magician takes out an entire SWAT team with his magic powers is awesome and his duel to the death with his sexy assistant is one for the books.  It’s almost enough to make you wish it was its own standalone full-length feature. 

Parallel Monsters (***) is up next.  A scientist works on creating a doorway to a parallel universe.  He opens the door and is startled to meet his alternate self.  They get along famously and decide to switch places to see how the other half lives.  Very weirdly as it turns out. 

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, this story has a cool Outer Limits Meets Playboy Channel vibe.  The Found Footage gimmick works well here because the scientist is filming it all for his scientific research.  The scene where the two parallel dimension scientists film each other is really cool too.  You never know quite where it’s headed and the big reveal in the end (which I wouldn’t want to spoil) is guaranteed to make your jaw drop. 

Bonestorm (****) rounds out the pack and it is by far the best use of the Found Footage gimmick I have seen.  A group of teens go down to Tijuana to finish filming their skating video.  The ditch they’re skating in just so happens to have some weird satanic markings on it.  When one of the kids cuts his elbow and bleeds on the pentagram, it awakens an evil group of zombie cultists. 

This segment is fun, especially if you’re like me and made skate tapes in your younger years.  The filmmakers really capture the feeling of hanging out with your friends on a lazy afternoon and shredding.  When the shit hits the fan, the feces really flies.  The scenes of the skaters caving in zombie skulls with skateboards, slicing them up with samurai swords, and blowing them up with firecrackers are worth the price of admission.  This is some of the best zombie mayhem I have seen in a long time.  It also helps that the zombies all have a great Burial Ground-inspired look to them. 

V/H/S:  Viral is easily the best in the series and one of the best anthologies of 21^st century.  Folks, this is why you watch all the sequels in any particular series.  You never know when you’re going to be surprised. 

AKA:  V/H/S:  New Virus.