V/H/S: Viral Movie Review
Don't fight this infection.
2014 saw the VOD debut of Magnet Releasing’s horror anthology V/H/S: Viral, the third film in the hit-and-mostly-miss V/H/S trilogy.
Unlike its predecessors, this film left the titular form of visual media behind, but it similarly featured one standout short that totally blew the other ones out of the water.
Lo and behold, it was the sci-fi-tinged “Parallel Monsters” in V/H/S: Viralthat rose to the top here, and it’s another sign that this growing anthology trend needs to head back to the science-fiction genre where its glory years were spent with Rod Serling.
“Parallel Monsters,” which I sincerely found to be the best short in any of the V/H/S movies, centers on Alfonso (Gustavo Salmeron), a married man who has just opened a portal to a parallel dimension and traveled through.
At first, it appears that everything is exactly the same in the other world, but it’s when the two Alfonsos decide to spend time in one another’s reality that things get way out of hand.
V/H/S: Viral a perfectly unsettling story from writer/director Nacho Vigalondo. There’s no surprise there since Vigalondo gave the world the genius 2007 time travel thriller Timecrimes and 2011’s enjoyable apocalyptic alien invasion comedy Extraterrestrial.
His latest V/H/S: Viral feature, the uniquely presented Open Windows, took him away from sci-fi, but this puts the reins right back in his hands. (Vigalondo also has a nifty short in that other horror anthology The ABCs of Death, which falls slightly within genre boundaries.)
“Parallel Monsters” is an unpredictable and imaginative story and an instant reminder of how much better-suited sci-fi is to storytelling than horror. In comparison, the other shorts in V/H/S: Viral involve a bunch of skateboarders beating up a never-ending line of cult zombie things, an illusionist who uses real magic to do whatever he wants, and some random stuff involving a couple and a cab ride.
There’s a chance that the excised segment “Gorgeous Vortex” in V/H/S: Viral could have been more intriguing than Vigalondo’s offering, but I doubt it.
Horrors and dark dramas have completely taken over the anthology approach in recent years. On film, this includes the previously mentioned series and some other low-budget schlock. (Trick ‘r Treat is excellent, though.)
And on TV, it’s critically beloved shows like American Horror Story, True Detective, and Fargo ushering in a new wave of limited tales to tell. I don’t understand why we haven’t already seen a corresponding boom in sci-fi anthologies in recent series pickups and things.
Yes, V/H/S: Viral‘s Metal Hurlant Chronicles is getting a redo, but many of the major networks are already moving forward with horror-based stuff. As a horror fan, I’m overjoyed, but the sci-fi lover in me is pissy all the same. There’s definitely room for both.
Find V/H/S: Viral on VOD.
