The bafflingly low bar set by “Dante the Great” makes Nacho Vigalondo’s “Parallel Monsters” feel like an oasis in a horror desert. In it, a mad scientist in his basement opens a door to a parallel reality, where he sees an identical version of himself. The pair agrees to hop universes for 15 minutes, look around, and come back. He QUICKLY learns that the external appearance of his doppelganger is the only thing that’s the same on the other side of that door. This bit has a nice energy and the confidence brought to it by Vigalondo, but even it ends on a note of disappointment. In comparison to the rest of the film, it’s a masterpiece, but even it just misses what I think Vigalondo intended by virtue of being largely one-joke. It’s a good joke, but it’s still just one joke.
And then it’s back into the pit with “Bonestorm,” an aggressively loud and annoying piece about skateboarders who stumble on a cult looking for a sacrifice. There are only so many shots of skateboard kids slicing and dicing their enemies one can take before we’ve crossed the line from film to something that looks more like a video game. I take that back. Most video games are more competently made.
Like a lot of horror fans, I'm both more forgiving and more critical of the genre. I know, from experience, that those who love horror movies will often overlook flaws simply because they so badly want their genre to become more respectable and critically acclaimed. Horror fans seek out under-the-radar gems, and embrace their genre's most creative voices. However, it also feels like that blind love for the horror genre can be abused by lazy filmmaking. I get angry when it feels like a fan base is being exploited because, well, "they'll see it anyway because they liked the last one." We've seen this in countless bad horror sequels. And it's exactly what we're seeing here with "V/H/S: Viral."
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