V/H/S: Viral has little to offer and, unlike its predecessors, seems to be mish-mash of stories with little, if anything, to do with one another, all held together with a lame “main storyline.” The acting also isn’t the best and add to the fact I’m not a fan of the found footage format, this just was not something I enjoyed.
V/H/S: Viral
(2014)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Horror
Magnolia Home Entertainment | R – 81 min. – $29.98 | February 17, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Marcel Sarmiento, Gregg Bishop, Nacho Vigalondo, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead Writer(s): Brad Miska (concept by), Marcel Sarmiento, T.J. Cimfel, Dave White, Gregg Bishop, Nacho Vigalondo, Justin Benson Cast: Emmy Argo, Patrick Lawrie, Noelle Ann Mabry, Mario Martín, Justin Welborn, Emilia Ares Zoryan DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
** Click Here to Purchase V/H/S: Viral on Blu-ray from Amazon.com **
PLOT SUMMARY
A stream of police cars chasing after a deranged ice cream truck driver has captivated the attention of the greater Los Angeles area. Dozens of teens flock to the streets with their video cameras and cell phones, hell-bent on capturing the next viral video. But there is something far more sinister occurring in the streets of L.A. As they’ll soon find out, these fame-obsessed amateur videographers, capturing salacious footage for the amusement of the public, are themselves the stars of the next big viral video – one where they face their own horrifying deaths.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.25/5
Audio Commentary – Directors Marcel Sarmiento Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Nacho Vigalondo and Gregg Bishop & Actor Shane Bradey
Bonestorm: Behind the Scenes (5:36; HD) provides BTS footage and interviews with members of the cast and crew; FX Storyboards and Artwork/FX Photo Gallery has various designs; Behind the Scenes Camera Stills.
Dante the Great: Smoke & Mirrors (8:32; HD) is a BTS featurette on this short within the movie; also included are Behind the Scenes, Production Stills and Greenscreen Poster Shoot Galleries.
We get a selection of Interviews (15:55; HD) with Writer/Director Marcel Sarmiento (Vicious Circles), Actress Noelle Ann Mabry (Vicious Circles), Actor Patrick Lawrie (Vicious Circles), Writer/Director Gregg Bishop (Dante the Great), Actor Justin Welborn (Dante the Great), and Writers/Directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Bonestorm).
AXS TV: A Look at V/H/S: Viral (2:08; HD) is a very basic promotional featurette.
VIDEO – 3.5/5
V/H/S: Viral I suppose succeeds in making this look like it was shot by amateurs because the video footage looks, more often than not, pretty bad, which was the intentions of the filmmakers, obviously. Colors are at least decent when we’re not in dimly lit shots but detail is lost and there were intentional bouts of pixilation and artifacts.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The movie comes with a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio track which is solid but nothing outstanding. The bulk of the movie is dialogue driven but when you did get some action-oriented scenes, the track does pick up some depth while ambient noises are relegated to the front and rear channels.
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, V/H/S: Viral has little to offer and, unlike its predecessors, seems to be mish-mash of stories with little, if anything, to do with one another, all held together with a lame “main storyline.” The acting also isn’t the best and add to the fact I’m not a fan of the found footage format, this just was not something I enjoyed.
The Blu-ray release is basic with satisfactory audio/video transfers and offers some decent amount of features.
Published: 02/10/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.