‘V/H/S: Viral’: Same problems, but also similar thrills
When the first film in this series was released 2 years ago, it came as a much-needed breath of fresh air for the found-footage subgenre, a subgenre that had tired itself out by the time even Paranormal Activity 2 came out. What stood out the most about it was that none of the filmmakers involved were trying to fool you into thinking that any of it was real, while studio made found footage films still marketed themselves as “this is real footage”. Rather than try to pull a trick you wouldn’t fall for, they just had fun with the format and sought to break down the limitations of it. V/H/S 2 doubled down on the scope and ambition and was an exhilarating anthology to witness. Does the whole endeavor begin to feel tired at this point? Yeah, but then again most film series tend to feel that way their third time at bat.