V/H/S Viral is the third
installment in the found-footage horror franchise
ABOUT THE FILMS
The following synopses are in order of segment appearance
in the film.
“Vicious Circles” Dir. Marcel Sarmiento
Logline: As
police pursue a mysterious, sinister vehicle through the streets of Los
Angeles, a camera-obsessed teen joins in the chase, encountering others hell
bent on capturing the next viral video
Synopsis: 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.
For the third wraparound segment in V/H/S VIRAL, I wanted to try and
expand the mythology a little while still staying true to the conceit of people
‘taping’ themselves. I wanted to try something that was not stationary but
constantly in motion. When they approached me, I specifically pitched an idea
deviating from the other two wraparounds, which were more contained and calm
(which admittedly was a good juxtaposition from the bookended segments around
it). However, instead, I pitched a fast past, adrenaline-fueled jolt featuring
an evolving story that would keep the audience guessing, driving segments
forward in clever ways. I wanted to drop the viewer into totally new
environments each time, with new characters – all strangely connected by a core
dilemma leading to a payoff that would include ALL the segments, past and
present. Basically the evil has "taken the show on the
road", and it's infecting more people, more quickly. So instead of a
single idea told in fragments between segments, I attempted to tell five very
different ideas, each connected to the other, but hopefully in ways that are
not completely apparent until the very end.
“Dante the Great” Dir. Gregg Bishop
Logline: An
aspiring magician happens upon a cloak owned by Houdini which brings him fame,
money and power; all at a deadly cost.
Synopsis: Scarlett
sits in an interrogation room. Across her, a Detective urges her to continue
her story. As she continues, the story of Dante the Great unfolds, documentary
style. Living in a dump of a trailer park in the middle of nowhere, with
nothing but fickle aspirations of becoming a famous illusionist, Dante comes
across a cloak rumored to have been owned by Houdini himself, a cloak powered
by profound, dark forces. With the cloak in hand, all of Dante’s wishes come
true: fame, women, money, and power. He becomes the most famous illusionist in
the world. But his fame comes at an ungodly cost. The cloak demands payment in
the form of human sacrifice. When Scarlett, his assistant, finds tapes of these
gruesome murders she reports him immediately, setting off an elaborate
stand-off between Dante and the Police. Spiraling deeper and deeper into a sea
of murder and carnage, Dante has the tables turned on him when Scarlett takes
possession of the cloak and feeds to it Dante himself. Scarlett burns the cloak
and tries to move on from the past. But alas, she soon finds out that some
things simply cannot be so easily escaped.
Gregg Bishop started making movies with his father's Super
8 and 16mm film cameras when he was 7 years old and wrote & directed his
first full-length feature at 17 years of age.
After graduating from the Production Program at USC film school,
Bishop wrote & directed the $15,000 film festival smash “THE OTHER SIDE”
which Premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival where it was snapped up for a
theatrical release. Variety called the movie “a lean, propulsively paced
supernatural thriller, packed with pulse pounding excitement”. Bishop is
currently developing the movie as a TV series at Fox Studios.
He then he directed & produced “DANCE OF THE DEAD”,
which had its World Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival and was hand-picked by
director Sam Raimi (“SPIDERMAN”, “DRAG ME TO HELL”) for distribution through
Lionsgate and Ghost House Pictures. Aint It Cool News hailed “DANCE OF THE
DEAD” as “a cult classic” and Bloody-Disgusting called it “one of the best
horror comedies ever made that will be remembered for years to come”.
“Parallel Monsters” Dir. Nacho Vigalondo
Logline: In
the dead of the night, after long, hectic hours of working, an excited Alfonso
has finally culminated his long-time project: the construction of a machine
that will allow him to go through the looking-glass and meet himself at the
parallel world he suspects to be at the other side. He was right: there is a
specular world with a specular Alfonso in it.
They do not hesitate to exchange each other’s life,
only for fifteen minutes. After all, they are but one person…
Synopsis: In the dead of the night after long, hectic hours of
working, an excited Alfonso has finally achieved his long-time goal:
constructing a machine that will allow him to go through the looking-glass and
meet himself in the parallel world he believes to be on the other side. And he
was right. There is a specular world that exists beside ours, with a perfect
second Alfonso living in it and looking right at us. Hardly able to contain to
their excitement, the Alfonsos decide to swap worlds for fifteen minutes.
Mirror images, however, are not always what they seem and each Alfonso finds
himself in a reality much different from the one left behind. Gruesome appendages,
glowing predatory eyes, and brutal murder prove that some places should not be
explored.
Nacho Vigalondo is a Spanish filmmaker who has received Academy Award nomination
and a Best Short Film Award nomination at the European Film Awards. Vigalondo's 2003 short film 7:35 de la MaΓ±ana received the Bronze Moon of Valencia
at the Cinema Jove – Valencia International Film Festival and the Prix UIP
Drama at the Drama Short Film Festival.[2]
“Bonestorm” Dirs. Justin Benson Aaron Moorehead
Logline: A
first person POV horror-comedy about young men making a skateboard video, who
are attacked by a supernatural cult while filming in an isolated ditch in
Tijuana.
Synopsis
Four teenagers try their hand at notoriety by making “gonzo style” skateboard
videos. Kick flipping from roof tops, racing into on-coming traffic, and
getting into bloody-knuckle brawls in skate parks, the foursome look to put the
finishing touch on their video by skating an undiscovered ditch in Tijuana,
Mexico. The hope, of course, being to film a lot of sex, drugs, and booze along
the way. Their debauchery has disastrous consequences when they become the
human sacrifices for a Mexican Death Cult’s ritual. As they fight viciously
against the undead, a darker and more evil creature rises amongst the blood and
carnage. This fight they will not be able to win
We approached Bonestorm
as a fun piece that progresses first person POV cinema, pays tribute to the
V/H/S franchise, and just generally fucks shit up. It was a labor of love for
an insanely talented group of collaborators that should be watched extremely
loud with a cold drink.
Opening
11/21/2014
Albuquerque, NM: Guild
Columbus, OH: Gateway Film Center 8
New York, NY: IFC Center
Tucson, AZ: The Loft Cinema
11/26/2014
Atlanta, GA: Plaza Theatre
11/28/2014
Anchorage, AK: Bear Tooth Theatre
Dallas, TX: Texas Theatre
Seattle, WA: Grand Illusion Cinema
12/1/2014
Portland, OR: Hollywood Theatre