Disc Reviews
Viral DVD Review
Every few years an old or new disease comes along that causes fear and talks of a potential global pandemic. Last year it was the ebola virus that ravaged through West Africa and led to infections in the West and once it breaks out is hard to contain and leads, in most cases to death. In the years preceding there was Avian flu, or Bird Flu (H5N1 and H7N9) as well as Swine Flu, all threats affecting travel and the world struggled to contain. The latest fear is the zika virus and is currently spreading throughout the Americas. Natural, therefore that cinema should reflect these fears and has done so readily over many years, perhaps most successfully in the zombie cycle of films beginning with George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) in which the dead come alive and this was made more realistically with Romero’s The Crazies (1973) in which an outbreak has meant communities are being contained by government forces. However, in many of these cases the outbreak (of living dead) and is usually a man made problem. A recent minor release, Viral is the spread of a disease not dissimilar to those mentioned above. Despite news footage and background TV news (quoting President Barack Obama) the film is set in one community in a Californian new suburb with teenagers being the central figures. The location of the film does recall the community in Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist (1982).
The film focuses on the Drakeford sisters who attend the local high school having recently moved to the suburban community. There mother is away in Kansas and their father is a biology teacher at the local school and even teaches the school about the reported virus spreading. One of the sisters, Stacey is a wild child who is dating a local punk while sister Emma is the good girl often covering for her sister but likes the boy across the road. The reported virus lurks in the background for approximately half the film until one of Emma’s best friends falls ill in a school lesson, runs out of the class and coughs up blood into the face of another teenager. Over the next couple of days Emma’s friend disappears but is reported very sick. Father goes away for a couple of days. A while later the girls attend a party where the young man who had blood on his face goes wild and attacks the partygoers. Emma, Stacey and the boy across the road, Evan escape and make their way to the Drakeford house when the National Guard impose a curfew and close the neighborhood down. A series of very violent attacks take place with the parasitic virus taking over the bodies until they become attacking zombies.
There are many precedents for Viral, from Contagion, [Rec] (both 2007) and Containment (2015) going way back to 1993’s The Hidden. Although this is a B movie that received very limited distribution theatrically it does contain some decent production values given that the producer was Jason Blum, the producer behind many a recent spate of quality horror films including Insidious, Sinister (both 2012), The Purge (2013), the Paranormal Activity sequels and Ouija (2014) among others, a producer racking up quite a body of horror films. Viral is hardly original but would be a good choice for Halloween with a pretty disgusting parasitic zombie as the monster. No extras.
Chris Hick
