V/H/S: VIRAL

Third and final chapter of the saga created by Brad Miska, now available in Italian in a nice DVD and Blu-ray box set edited by Midnight Factory, which also includes "V/H/S" and "V/H/S 2". The evolution of the saga has followed a stylistic path that has increasingly distanced it from the original concept (which envisaged the coincidence of form and substance) and from the decadent and dirty atmosphere that characterized the first two episodes. "V/H/S: VIRAL" is indeed a more ambitious product, which further exacerbates the catastrophic scenario of its predecessor, taking advantage of a more canonical cinematic language. To frame the three episodes that make up this last segment of the trilogy is "Vicious Circle" by Marcel Sarmiento: the police chase a mysterious van and people, taken by a strange madness, pour into the streets to film with their cell phones what is happening, in the hope that the video, posted online, will go viral; among them a boy, whose girlfriend inexplicably finds herself on board the vehicle. The found footage technique is therefore completely abandoned, which instead represented the founding element of "Tape 56" and "Tape 49", in which the protagonists viewed the VHS tapes from which the individual stories originated. "Vicious Circle" is therefore only formally a connecting episode, which resolves into a fragmented story, chaotic in its staging and narratively not very fluid. But the message comes loud and clear: every individual feels an irresistible need to document what is happening around him, in order to become part of "something bigger" and, like a contagious disease, the phenomenon spreads throughout the community. The first real episode is "Dante The Great" by Gregg Bishop: an aspiring magician comes into possession of a cloak with strange powers, thanks to which he can perform incredible shows; but the garment requires a constant blood tribute. The segment, almost television-like, is pleasant but not particularly engaging and, although it still partly exploits the device of the found documentary material, it is characterized by traditional editing and filming techniques. Fortunately, Bishop almost completely renounces CGI and makes the most of the limited budget available, creating homemade but well-executed special effects. Following is "Parallel Monsters" by Nacho Vigalondo: a man builds a space-time portal that allows him to contact himself in a parallel reality but what awaits him is a world only apparently similar to his. Pervaded by an unsettling atmosphere, "Parallel Monsters" seems to have come out of the series "The Outer Limits" or some collection of stories by R. Matheson and is certainly the best episode of the bunch. The story is simple but definitely engaging and winks at the more classic science fiction cinema. In this case too, no found videotape: the Spanish director prefers a sober POV to lead us into a universe normal for those who inhabit it but strange and dangerous for those coming from the other side. And he does so by creating a growing suspense that culminates in a delirious ending. Finally, "Bonestorm" by Justin Benson: some skateboarding enthusiasts go to Mexico to film their acrobatics during the celebration of the Day of the Dead; they will have to deal with the living dead and infernal creatures. In this concluding segment, the POV technique is exaggerated thanks to the cameras mounted on the skateboarders' helmets: in this way the viewer lives in first person not only the daring evolutions made with the board but also the chases and the fights between the boys and the zombies. Interesting but somewhat confusing formal ideas. A fourth episode, "Gorgeous Vortex" directed by Todd Lincoln, was supposed to be part of the anthology but the choice was to remove it (the short is available among the extra contents of the DVD edition). It is not, however, a great loss since the segment in question, although aesthetically elegant and cared for, is totally oniric or simply incomprehensible. In conclusion, this third chapter more than adding something to the saga, subtracts it: the original idea abandoned, "V/H/S: VIRAL" takes on the features of a traditional film in which the cult element that provided a very precise identity to the previous chapters is missing: the videotape, a sort of "sacred" fetish, source of mystery and morbid curiosity. However, it is worth a watch. Review originally published on the M'illumino di Horror blog