Director: Justin Benson, Gregg Bishop, Todd Lincoln, Aaron Moorhead, Marcel Sarmiento, Nacho Vigalondo
Year: 2014
Country: USA/Canada/Indonesia
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Anthology
Plot:
A series of vignettes trying to portray people creating viral moments, getting into dangerous situations.
Review:
Dante the Great-After getting caught in a vicious crime, the exploits of a once-famous magician are recounted how his series of tricks were performed after discovering he owns a malevolent cloak. This was a rather poor attempt to start this one off. The idea here has some premise, especially with the type of supernatural powers that are on display throughout here involving grisly deaths, impressive gags, and some intriguing action. However, the tone and presentation are all wrong for this type of story, where it’s a mockumentary presentation alongside talk head interviews and documentary footage recapping what happened is interspersed with footage that no cameraman was present to record, especially at that time or angle. This is immensely difficult to get over and makes everything feel far less imposing than it really should.
Parallel Monsters-Hoping to perfect a device to travel to an alternate dimension, a man trades places with his doppelganger from that universe, only for the different lives they lead to affect him greatly. This was a potentially intriguing effort that ultimately becomes a disappointing slog. The revelation about what goes on in the different dimension from our universe is a nice reveal with the way it comes about as a form of everyday life that goes on, which is soon revealed to be deformed monstrosities for genitals, which is a great touch. There are some fun encounters here involving the race to get back to safety and their own universe, which highlights why that wasn’t much of an issue when he realized the extent of the parallel universe, as it feels like an afterthought to return to the normal world and check on his wife in the real world. That seems like a slight oversight and holds it back somewhat.
Bonestorm-While trying to create a viral video, a group of skateboarders decides to visit Tijuana and find some place to shoot down there, inadvertently triggering a zombie apocalypse for their disrespect. This was a really troubling effort that could’ve provided more fun than it does. The interactions with the zombies here are the best part, with the robed figures and traditional folklore paint helping to create a strong impression in their encounter. With the graphic gore and bloodshed featured here add some fun moments to show them their comeuppance for the disrespect shown to the heritage. The problem stems from how utterly irritating and unlikable the kids are, which makes it nearly impossible to care what’s going on, especially with their disrespect and flippant attitude, and when combined with the cheap look and presentation, makes this a wasted opportunity.
Vicious Circles-Hoping to create some viral content, a man sets out to film a high-speed chase in the city, only to be forced to chase after the offending vehicle when it kidnaps his girlfriend. Generally, this was a fairly weak and underwhelming entry that doesn’t have much to like. What tends to work the best here focuses on the series of bizarre and unhinged material that the city devolves into as the series of different communities they get involved in paints a picture of a chaotic hellspawn society crumbling around them. It serves very little function as a true wrap-around segment, though, where the inability to logically lead into the next feature is weak and uninspiring, with a truly weak and underwhelming storyline.
Overview: *.5/5
A generally disappointing entry in the franchise, this one comes together as a few likable pieces coming together alongside some enjoyable segments in the stories. Those with an appreciation for the style, who are fans of the creative crew, or hardcore fans of the franchise, will have the most to like here, as most others out there should heed extreme caution.
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