Why So Blu?

VHS: Viral (Blu-ray Review)

The past three years, consistently in the horror world, we’ve been anticipating a film in the V/H/S series.  Done in the classic horror anthology mode, but using the modern “found footage” aesthetic, the first film was a neat experiment that went pretty hit or miss.  Last years’ followup was seen as a consensus improvement.  It also contained a segment that had one of the most horrifying and disturbing horror stories I had seen in a long time.  I was eager to see what they are considering the finale.  Which, it surprises me that they are showing restraint and cutting the series off at this point, as I could see it going on much longer with more original stories or similar ones from different perspectives.  Plus, these don’t cost much and also don’t seem to have lengthy productions by their nature.

Film 

A police chase after a deranged ice cream truck has captivated the attention of the greater Los Angeles area. Dozens of fame-obsessed teens flock to the streets with their video cameras and camera phones, hell-bent on capturing the next viral video. But there is something far more sinister occurring in the streets of L.A. than a simple police chase. A resounding effect is created onto all those obsessed with capturing salacious footage for no other purpose than to amuse or titillate. Soon the discovery becomes that they themselves are the stars of the next video, one where they face their own death.

Mixed in with all that viral obsession are other short stories.  At first glance, it feels like they may have trimmed the fat of the third V/H/S more.  The first had five shorts, the sequel four and on the surface here it appears to be just three.  However, after the credits finished rolling, and hidden almost easter egg like, in its own title set even, is our fourth found footage wonder.  I imagine they couldn’t figure a good fit or something for it, or that they wanted it to be taken on its own which is understandable.

“Dante The Great” is the first short, and features an actor whom I’ve enjoyed in various things (Currently on Justified), Justin Welborn.  Its basically about a laughing stock magician who finds a cloak that is likely driven by dark magic and becomes famous and obsessive.  While it features some jumps and attempts at scares, this one is one of the more campy and action based shorts V/H/S has put out.  The magical showdown is solid enough and plenty entertaining, but not really one that kicks off things successfully.  But then again, having seen the whole thing, I guess if you’re holding off on the goods, you’d want to show this one first.

After another bit of the wraparound we are then transported to “Parallel Monsters”, which really hits you with the weird and uncomfortable horror.  This might be my personal favorite of what’s here.  A man builds a machine that opens up to a parallel and almost mirror like image of himself and house.  He and his parallel self agree to swap places and look over their homes for 15 minutes.  Oh…where this goes would just be telling.  Its strange, discomforting, gross and very very awesome.  I’d say this is an all timer in the V/H/S canon.

“Bonestorm” will likely be the MVP for most people watching.  Its got some laughs, intensity and thrills.  The premise is pretty simple.  Some a-hole, bro skaters take a trip to TJ to go and drink  and skate and wind up completing a blood ritual and are attacked by cult-demon-skeletal things.  There’s a lot of action here and most of its done pretty well.  It just went on too long and at some points was really difficult to follow who was who and what exactly was going on.  Plus, our protagonists are pretty unlikable.

After you think the film has ended, you’re treated to “Gorgeous Vortex”.  This one is super arthouse and really the first in any of the V/H/S films to take this direction.  Its beautifully shot and edited, and really is one to let the viewer sort of take their own from it.  If you were into something like Under The Skin last year, then you really should have no trouble in enjoying this.  From a technical standpoint its rather impressive, and is really fun to look at.

The wraparound for this film was probably the weakest of all of them I’d say.  I never really got on board much with it.  They seemed to hint at bigger things at times, but nothing really panned out for me.  There was a really cool moment when a guy gets dragged behind a speeding ambulance, but other than that, I was really just waiting for the next short  to get started.

V/H/S: Viral finds itself similar to the first one in terms of quality, but I still think its an improvement that initial outing.  The second film is easily the best.  This is being touted as the final film, but I still think there’s room for more if producer’s wanted to venture back.  The wraparound is the weakest part of this movie as the shorts range from solid to great, and don’t disappoint.  This is an easy recommend if you’ve already seen the first two.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail:  Its sort of hard to come to a concise conclusion on this, because the nature of the film is composed of all sorts of different video qualities.  As a whole though, this image looks pretty much as intended and is sharp and “clean”.  There’s plenty of detail to be seen all over, whether it be blood on a pavement or fabrics and hairs on a clothing garment.

Depth:  Background and foreground really look sharp and don’t feature a lot of unintended blurriness.  There’s a clear sense of space and figure between object and environment.  Movements a pretty smooth.

Black Levels:  Blacks are deep and inky.  Some minimal crushing and not a lot of hidden detail.  Shading is solid, as this is digital hand held, there’s a lot of natural lighting, but it looks just fine.

Color Reproduction:  Colors are solid and look very natural.  The only video featuring a sort of vivid appearance is Gorgeous Vortex and that contains mostly blacks.  Lots of this has night time lit scenes and Bonestorm is very warm with not many stand out colors.

Flesh Tones:  Natural and plenty of detail with acne, wrinkles, scuffs, stubble and freckles.

Noise/Artifacts:  As far as unintentional?  Nothing.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics:  By nature, the film features a lot of distorted sounds and static for effect.  Its part of the experience.  The 5.1 track does the trick in helping put the viewer behind the camera.  Sounds are distinct and environmental atmosphere does the trick in creating a sense of place.  This track isn’t going to blow any minds, but its above average and will sure do the trick and deliver the goods.

Low Frequency Extension:  Camera bumps and hits, skateboards cracking skulls, jump scares and a blimp highlight some of the better work being done by the sub woofer.  It keeps plenty busy and has some magic that might make you hop out of your seat a time or two.

Surround Sound Presentation:  An accurate representation of what is going on onscreen.  The rear speakers are mainly a source of ambiance, but in Bonestorm and Parallel Monsters a couple moments of struggle or sounds of people behind travel through.

Dialogue Reproduction:  When at an ideal place and the camera in the story is in good shape, things are loud, crisp and clear.  Volume and pitch placement are also accurate.

Extras 

I have to say its a bit disappointing that there is nothing in the way of bonus for Gorgeous Vortex and only a commentary for Parallel Monsters.  Those were the only ones I really wanted to learn more from and was intrigued for any sort of interviews and whatnot.

Audio Commentary

• With Directors Marcel Sarmiento, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Nacho Vigalondo, Gregg Bishop & Actor Shane Bradley

Bonestorm

• Behind The Scenes Featurette (HD, 5:36) – Some clips of shooting, choreographing and director interviews.
• FX Storyboards – 30 storyboard drawings
• Artwork/FX Photo Gallery – 17 stills of models, makeup and test shots.
• Behind The Scenes Camera Stills – 99 images of shooting the halfpipe skeletal throwdown

Dante The Great

• Smoke & Mirrors: Behind The Magic Of Dante The Great (HD, 8:32) – A short making of with cast and crew interviews.
• Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery – 22 images of the production at work.
• Production Stills Photo Gallery – 24 images of still from the film
• Green Screen Poster Shoot Photo Gallery – 15 images of the two leads posing for what would later be made into background posters in the film.

Interviews (HD, 15:55) – Brief interviews that seem a little more promotional in nature, but providing some interesting insight and tid bits nonetheless.

• Marcel Sarmiento, Director/Writer Vicious Circles
• Noelle Ann Mabry, “Lulu” Vicious Circles
• Patrick Laurie, “Kev” Vicious Circles
  
• Gregg Bishop, Director/Writer Dante The Great
• Justin Welborn, “Dante” Dante The Great
• Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Writers/Directors Bonestorm

AXS TV: A Look At V/H/S: Viral (HD, 2:08) – A brief little EPK commercial on the film for AXS TV.

Summary 

V/H/S: Viral is a step down from the really good V/H/S 2 but manages to still keep afloat above the first experiment.  If you’ve been following along the way and collecting these, you’ll be happy with this Blu-ray.  It features great audio and video in the presentation.  Its also pretty loaded with extras.  Some of which give a surprisingly good look at how they were crafted.  This is a nice release and should please fans and horror geeks well enough.  I’m not gonna put a lid on the V/H/S series just yet, even if the makers say its done.