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V/H/S/Mixtape, ninth found-footage anthology, gets mixed reviews ahead of Shudder release

Reviews of the music- and sound-themed horror anthology V/H/S/Mixtape, streaming on Shudder from 9 October, praise Renee Zhan's puppet segment and criticise the GWAR interludes and weaker closing shorts.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Screen Rant
Image: IndieWire

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2V/H/S/Mixtape, the ninth instalment of the found-footage horror anthology franchise, is due to stream on Shudder on Friday, 9 October. Mixed · 2The film's shorts are all built around sound or music, and are linked by interludes featuring the shock-metal band GWAR. Mixed · 2Directors named by the reviewers include Renee Zhan, David Moreau, Ernest Dickerson, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Ghost frontman Tobias Forge and Flying Lotus. The two reviews describe the structure differently: Screen Rant counts six shorts, while IndieWire cites four short films plus a handful of musical interludes.

Mixed · 2Both reviewers single out Zhan's "Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance" as the highlight. It uses Jim Henson's Creature Shop puppets and stars Barbara Crampton as a corporate or studio executive. Mixed · 2Both find the remaining segments uneven. Moreau's "Heartbeat" and Dickerson's "The Music of Mr. Sze" are each faulted, as is RZA's "Death Tone": Screen Rant calls the last the most boring, while IndieWire says it fares somewhat better than Moreau's and Dickerson's segments. Mixed · 2Both reviews criticise the GWAR interludes, with Screen Rant calling them crude and grating and IndieWire saying they look cheap and dated, though IndieWire grants some "objectively funny gross-out dialogue". Both also fault Forge's segment, called a bland metal music video by Screen Rant and "astonishingly forgettable" by IndieWire.

Mixed · 2Flying Lotus's animated piece is praised for its visuals by both, but Screen Rant finds "Another Cabin" too short to feel complete, while IndieWire calls it a beautiful interlude that barely fits the theme. Mixed · 2Screen Rant concludes the film is "fundamentally disappointing" and 'sometimes good, never great'. IndieWire is more forgiving, saying the series can still introduce horror fans to "earnestly exciting artists" but that its sense of novelty is growing harder to maintain. IndieWire adds that this is the first instalment under new franchise owners Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Abu Dhabi.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
IndieWire treats the film as a helter-skelter anthology with some killer tracks, weighing it against the franchise's history and its role in showcasing new horror talent.
Emphasis
Zhan's segment as proof of the series' continued relevance; franchise ownership and history; the series' growing nostalgia.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not give an overall verdict as harshly negative as Screen Rant's; calls the film mostly a wash outside Zhan's segment.
Charged language
“helter-skelter”“mostly a wash”“astonishingly forgettable”
For example
“the series can still introduce horror fans to earnestly exciting artists” — IndieWire
“The rest of “V/H/S Mixtape” is less nimble, and that leaves the outing mostly a wash.” — IndieWire

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Screen Rant gives a blunt consumer-style verdict: some good segments, but the film as a whole disappoints.
Emphasis
Segment-by-segment flaws, brevity of the better shorts, and the damage done by the GWAR interstitials.
Leaves out or plays down
Says little about franchise ownership or the series' production history.
Charged language
“brutal slog”“edgelordy”“flop sweat”“fundamentally disappointing”
For example
“turning the final third of the anthology into a brutal slog” — Screen Rant
“Ultimately, while the movie does have a few segments that would work in isolation, the experience as a whole is fundamentally disappointing.” — Screen Rant

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.