V/H/S: Viral (aka V/H/S 3) (late 2014)
10-24-14, 09:32 PM
#26
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Re: V/H/S: Viral (aka V/H/S 3) (late 2014)
Had a few dollars in video credit, so I decided to rent this on Amazon and just finished watching it a few minutes ago. I should state I am a sucker for horror anthologies, and despite fully acknowledging the majority of the genre is pure shit, I also have a weakness for found footage.
That being said, this was definitely a disappointment and easily the weakest of the trilogy. All of the stories felt like half-formed rough drafts, with the wraparound segment in particular not making any sense. The pacing, the acting, the effects, the writing...it all just felt subpar. The frustrating thing is that the three main segments all had clever ideas in them, they just needed more time at the writing stage and/or better execution.
Out of the stories, I guess Nacho Vigalando's parallel world segment was the winner, but even that one has its problems; however, the majority of it is pretty tense and darkly funny at times, and definitely has a "where are they going to go from here?" feel to it. It also has the film's best joke, which is never actually explained (and is all the funnier for it). The magician story was a neat idea but one that feels quite frankly too mundane for this series and as it's quite action-heavy feels out of place, not to mention it never bothers to explain what I imagine would be some logical questions, whereas the final segment, "Bonestorm," is for all intents and purposes a pretty poor remake of "Safe Haven" from V/H/S 2. And as mentioned, the wraparound segment seems to feel like a cobbled together patchwork of disconnected ideas/visuals that tries to culminate in some kind of comment on social media, but doesn't work due to the incoherence that preceded it.
If you can, I would suggest waiting until it makes its Netflix debut sometime next year. But if you have to see it now, just keep in mind that nothing here comes close to matching the highs of the previous films.
(One other thing: the runtime with credits is 82 minutes--looks like they cut out an entire segment, the one involving "a sinister, shadowy organization that is tracking a serial killer." Compared to what made it in, I shudder to think how bad it was if it was cut for quality purposes.)
That being said, this was definitely a disappointment and easily the weakest of the trilogy. All of the stories felt like half-formed rough drafts, with the wraparound segment in particular not making any sense. The pacing, the acting, the effects, the writing...it all just felt subpar. The frustrating thing is that the three main segments all had clever ideas in them, they just needed more time at the writing stage and/or better execution.
Out of the stories, I guess Nacho Vigalando's parallel world segment was the winner, but even that one has its problems; however, the majority of it is pretty tense and darkly funny at times, and definitely has a "where are they going to go from here?" feel to it. It also has the film's best joke, which is never actually explained (and is all the funnier for it). The magician story was a neat idea but one that feels quite frankly too mundane for this series and as it's quite action-heavy feels out of place, not to mention it never bothers to explain what I imagine would be some logical questions, whereas the final segment, "Bonestorm," is for all intents and purposes a pretty poor remake of "Safe Haven" from V/H/S 2. And as mentioned, the wraparound segment seems to feel like a cobbled together patchwork of disconnected ideas/visuals that tries to culminate in some kind of comment on social media, but doesn't work due to the incoherence that preceded it.
If you can, I would suggest waiting until it makes its Netflix debut sometime next year. But if you have to see it now, just keep in mind that nothing here comes close to matching the highs of the previous films.
(One other thing: the runtime with credits is 82 minutes--looks like they cut out an entire segment, the one involving "a sinister, shadowy organization that is tracking a serial killer." Compared to what made it in, I shudder to think how bad it was if it was cut for quality purposes.)
10-26-14, 12:31 AM
#27
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: V/H/S: Viral (aka V/H/S 3) (late 2014)
This third installment was crap. Not that the first 2 were anything great, but this one was just YouTube comparable. Not one segment had me intrigued. I mostly wanted them to hurry up and move to the next in hopes it would be good. I was let down. The main story arc was terrible. Poor story line, and, you know, stop with all the 'tape' flutter and digital interference crap when showing a digital world. Am I to believe that all these GoPro recordings were put on to a VHS tape?
I'm willing to bet most of this stuff is though up by none other than Brad Miska (Mr. Disgusting, Bloody Disgusting) himself.
I'm willing to bet most of this stuff is though up by none other than Brad Miska (Mr. Disgusting, Bloody Disgusting) himself.
10-29-14, 12:15 PM
#28
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: V/H/S: Viral (aka V/H/S 3) (late 2014)
This was a pretty shitty movie but there were some moments that grabbed you for a couple of seconds (that's the best compliment I can give it) mainly the "Parallel monsters" story.
I hope this series gets back on its feet a bit.
I hope this series gets back on its feet a bit.
12-11-15, 09:12 AM
#29
DVD Talk Legend
Re: V/H/S: Viral (aka V/H/S 3) (late 2014)
Watched this last night on Netflix. HOLY SHIT. I thought the second one was bad but my God....
I think this franchise has run it's course.
I think this franchise has run it's course.
