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V/H/S: Viral (2014): The Weakest Entry — But Still Worth a Watch

Found-Footage.com Team — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 22:03:34 +0000

When V/H/S: Viral was released in 2014, it was positioned as the closing chapter of the franchise. It wasn’t — the series has since continued with V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, and V/H/S/85. But at the time of this review, it felt like a finale. And as finales go, it’s a slightly deflating one.

V/H/S: Viral (2014)

1h22 – IMDB: 4.8/10 – Genre: Horror Anthology – Style: Found Footage

The Story: A fame-obsessed teenager chases a mysterious ice cream truck through Los Angeles while four found footage segments unfold around him — each one stranger and more disturbing than the last.

Our Opinion: The weakest entry in the V/H/S franchise — no segment here matches the highs of the first two films. Bonestorm is the standout, Parallel Monsters has a great concept that runs out of time, and the wraparound is more confusing than compelling. Worth watching to complete the series, but go in with lowered expectations.

Directors: Marcel Sarmiento, Gregg Bishop, Nacho Vigalondo, Justin Benson, Aaron Scott Moorhead

Watch it

What V/H/S: Viral Is About

Unlike the previous two films, V/H/S: Viral doesn’t use the found tapes as a framing device in the traditional sense. Instead, the segments are intercut into the wraparound story as if everything was shot on the same camera — a structural choice that, as we’ll get to, creates as many problems as it solves.

The V/H/S: Viral Trailer

The Segments

Vicious Circles

Vicious Circles. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Director: Marcel Sarmiento

Strange scenes are unfolding on the streets of Los Angeles as an old ice cream truck is chased across the city by police. Dozens of teenagers flood the streets with their phones and cameras, desperate to film the chase and land the next viral hit. What they don’t know is that something far more dangerous than a police pursuit is waiting for them on those streets. Their fame-obsessed quest for content is about to become the starring role in their own personal nightmare.

Dante the Great

Director & Writer: Gregg Bishop

Dante is a talentless magician with none of the qualities required to become famous. Then fate intervenes — he comes across a mysterious cloak that appears to grant him real magical powers. The cloak, however, seems to have a life of its own. It changes its wearer’s behaviour. And every so often, it needs to be fed.

Parallel Monsters

Parallel Monsters. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Director & Writer: Nacho Vigalondo

Inventor Alfonso is overjoyed when he tests his life’s work — a dimensional portal — and it actually functions. On the other side, he comes face to face with himself. His other self appears to have been working on the same idea. After a cautious greeting, they agree to explore each other’s dimensions. Alfonso quickly notices that things work rather differently on the other side. His wife there is watching snuff pornography with two strangers while performing some kind of ritual. And when the people of this parallel world realise that Alfonso isn’t quite who he appears to be, they start behaving very differently too.

Bonestorm

Bonestorm. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead

Three friends live for skateboarding — pulling stunts and filming everything for the internet. When their neighbourhood stops offering enough material, they head to Tijuana. They find a perfect spot to skate. Yes, there are strange pentagrams and symbols painted everywhere, but that’s hardly a reason to stop. It’s only when one of them injures himself and his blood begins to boil on one of the pentagrams that things get truly frightening. Very strange figures appear, and they have no friendly intentions. By the time the boys understand where they’ve stumbled into, it’s already far too late.

Review: V/H/S: Viral (Spoiler-Free)

Vicious Circles is the wraparound segment and the film’s biggest structural problem. Unlike the previous two films, the segments aren’t discovered and watched — they’re simply cut into the middle of the main story, as if everything was shot on one continuous camera. The result is a wraparound that keeps getting interrupted just as it’s building momentum, forcing you to reorient yourself every time a new segment begins. There’s tension, mystery, horror and even humour in Vicious Circles — but the constant interruptions drain it of energy and push it toward confusion and, at times, outright tedium.

Dante the Great is a decent segment with a genuinely interesting concept — the cloak with a life of its own fits naturally into the V/H/S universe. The performances are convincing throughout. The problem is that the found footage format isn’t maintained consistently. The opening works, but by the final minutes the camera is floating around without any logical operator. I also found myself occasionally wondering why someone would still be filming in certain situations. Minor complaints, but noticeable ones.

Parallel Monsters is consistently shot in found footage style and the concept is strong — but the spark never quite reached me. By the time the segment really got going, it was already over. Nacho Vigalondo spent too much time on the setup and not enough on the payoff. It’s a mysterious, well-acted segment with a good idea at its centre — but one that could have been so much more.

Bonestorm is the strongest segment in V/H/S: Viral and the one that feels most at home in the franchise. The premise is simultaneously mad, creepy and mysterious. The always-on camera problem is handled more cleverly than most — the skaters wear action cameras on their helmets that simply run continuously, which grounds the found footage logic better than almost anything else in this film. The ending reminded me of The Borderlands, but I’ll say no more than that. Not the strongest segment in the entire V/H/S series, but the best this instalment has to offer.

One final note: I haven’t mentioned Gorgeous Vortex in this review — it only appears in the bonus material of the mediabook edition and abandons the found footage format entirely. That said, it’s surprisingly good as a standalone short. A pleasant bonus if you have the physical release.

Verdict

Overall, I came away slightly disappointed. None of the segments here match the highs of the first two films. I don’t regret watching it — and with the franchise continuing well beyond this instalment, Viral is worth seeing as part of the series. Just don’t go in expecting Safe Haven.

If you’ve made it through V/H/S and V/H/S/2, you’ll want to complete the set. Just lower your expectations slightly before pressing play.

Where to Watch V/H/S: Viral

Similar Movies to V/H/S: Viral

V/H/S: Viral sits at the same crossroads as its predecessors — found footage horror meets anthology format. Here’s where to go next depending on which side drew you in.

If it was the anthology format:

V/H/S (2012) — The original and still the strongest entry in the franchise. Raw, uneven in the best possible way, and with a wraparound that actually works. Essential viewing before anything else in the series.

V/H/S/2 (2013) — The high point of the franchise. More inventive, more consistent, and with Safe Haven — one of the best short horror films ever made in the format. Read our full review.

V/H/S/94 (2021) — The franchise returns after a hiatus and delivers its most consistent instalment since V/H/S/2. Set in 1994, with a strong wraparound and several genuinely unsettling segments. A significant step up from Viral.

If it was the found footage horror:

Afflicted (2013) — Two friends filming their world trip discover that one of them has been infected with something that’s changing him. Shares Dante the Great‘s DNA — a man transforming into something he can’t control, caught on camera throughout. Considerably better executed.

Alien Abduction (2014) — A family on a camping trip in the Brown Mountain area of North Carolina encounters something in the woods. Shares the alien horror energy of Slumber Party Alien Abduction but with more sustained dread and a stronger emotional core.

Cloverfield (2008) — No anthology, no segments — just one continuous nightmare through the streets of New York. If Bonestorm‘s chaotic energy was what got you, Cloverfield delivers that same overwhelming, disorienting found footage spectacle at full scale. Read our full review.

Der Beitrag V/H/S: Viral (2014): The Weakest Entry — But Still Worth a Watch erschien zuerst auf found-footage.com.

V/H/S/2 (2013): More Segments, More Scares, More Splatter

Found-Footage.com Team — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 21:51:11 +0000

I loved the first V/H/S. But V/H/S/2 — also known as S-VHS — showed me what this format is truly capable of. More ideas, more variety, more genuine dread. A worthy successor that improves on almost everything the original did well.

V/H/S/2 (2013)

1h36 – IMDB: 6.1/10 – Genre: Horror Anthology – Style: Found Footage

The Story: Two private investigators find a collection of VHS tapes while searching for a missing student. Each tape is more disturbing than the last. They keep watching anyway.

Our Opinion: More ideas, more variety, more dread than the original. Safe Haven alone is worth the runtime — one of the best short horror films in the anthology genre. A worthy sequel that improves on almost everything the first film did well.

Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener

Watch it

What V/H/S/2 Is About

Like the first film, a collection of VHS tapes is discovered — each one revealing something disturbing. This time, two private investigators find the tapes while searching for a missing student. As they work through the videos, each one more horrifying than the last, a creeping suspicion begins to form: the missing boy may be connected to what they’re watching. The deeper they go, the harder it becomes to look away.

The V/H/S/2 Trailer

The Segments

Clinical Trials

A man receives an artificial eye implant. His doctor warns him of possible side effects. What he begins to see through that digital eye, however, goes well beyond anything the medical literature prepared him for.

A Ride in the Park

A Ride in the Park. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

A mountain biker is enjoying a peaceful ride through the woods when he is attacked by a hungry zombie. Shortly afterwards, he is one himself — still wearing the GoPro camera mounted to his helmet, still recording everything. What follows is a zombie’s-eye-view of the undead experience, and one of the most inventive segment concepts in the anthology genre.

Safe Haven

Safe Haven. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

A television crew is filming a documentary about a reclusive and secretive cult. At first they’re sceptical, even slightly amused. Then everything goes wrong at once, and hell — quite literally — breaks loose.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction

Slumber Party Alien Abduction. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

The parents are away. A group of kids decide to spend the evening playing pranks on each other. Then strange lights appear outside. Then the noise starts. Something has landed near the house, and it hasn’t come for a friendly visit.nt.

Review: V/H/S/2 (Spoiler-Free)

V/H/S/2 delivers exactly what the anthology format promises and so rarely achieves: genuine variety. Each segment has its own tone, its own logic, its own brand of horror — and together they cover enough ground to offer something for almost every kind of horror fan. Scares, splatter, tension, and even the occasional dark laugh. The mix is what makes it work.

The standout for me is Safe Haven — a segment that builds an extraordinary amount of tension in a very short time and then commits to its apocalyptic finale with a commitment that borders on reckless. It could have functioned as a standalone splatter film. As a short, it’s remarkable.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction and A Ride in the Park also deserve their flowers. The GoPro-on-the-helmet concept in A Ride in the Park is one of those ideas that sounds gimmicky on paper and turns out to be genuinely inspired — there’s something darkly comic about a zombie continuing to film himself, and the segment leans into that with confidence.

Clinical Trials is the weakest link for me personally. The concept is strong — a digital eye that sees things it shouldn’t — but the execution didn’t quite land. Not bad, but noticeably weaker than the others.

One honest complaint about Safe Haven, without getting into spoilers: the final shot features a visual effect that doesn’t quite convince. You’ll know it when you see it. For a segment that is otherwise brilliantly constructed, it’s a frustrating stumble at the finish line.

Verdict

V/H/S/2 won’t top my all-time found footage list — but it sits comfortably in the top five. Whatever you’re looking for — scares, tension, splatter, or inventive format experimentation — V/H/S/2 has it.

If you loved the first V/H/S, you’ll love this one more.

Where to Watch V/H/S/2

Similar Movies to V/H/S/2

V/H/S/2 sits at the intersection of found footage horror and anthology filmmaking — two formats that work surprisingly well together. Here’s where to go next depending on which side drew you in.

If it was the anthology format:

V/H/S (2012) — The original. Less polished, less consistent, but with the same wild energy and the same willingness to go places mainstream horror wouldn’t dare. Start here if you haven’t already.

V/H/S: Viral (2014) — The third instalment and the weakest of the three — but worth watching to complete the set. Bonestorm is the standout segment. Read our full review for V/H/S Viral.

V/H/S/94 (2021) — The third instalment, set in 1994, and arguably the most consistently strong entry in the franchise. A significant step up in quality from V/H/S/3 and well worth your time.

Southbound (2015) — A found footage anthology set on a desolate desert highway, where five interlocking stories bleed into each other in ways that gradually reveal a larger, darker picture. More atmospheric than V/H/S/2, less frantic, but quietly unsettling.

If it was the found footage horror:

REC (2007) — The gold standard. A TV crew follows firefighters into a Barcelona apartment building and can’t get out. Relentless, terrifying, and still the benchmark for found footage horror done right.

Deadstream (2022) — A disgraced YouTuber locks himself in a haunted house and livestreams the whole thing. Found footage horror comedy at its best — funny, inventive, and genuinely scary. Read our full review.

Der Beitrag V/H/S/2 (2013): More Segments, More Scares, More Splatter erschien zuerst auf found-footage.com.