V/H/S/Mixtape opens with an over-the-top character and a scene that immediately makes you shake your head. It is a terrible way to start an anthology that already has to work hard to keep the audience engaged across multiple horror shorts. Unfortunately, the quality is all over the place, with some segments feeling like genuine horror projects and others feeling more like personal art experiments that forgot to entertain. There are a few decent moments scattered throughout, but the collection struggles to deliver consistent scares.
Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance feels like a rip-off of Buddy, although it is entirely possible the two projects were conceived independently around the same time. Barbara Crampton looks fantastic, and her performance makes it clear she is a much better actress than most of the people surrounding her. Unfortunately, even she cannot save a boring segment about puppets. I did enjoy the You're Next reference, though. It is also clear that everyone wants to capitalize on the success of Five Nights at Freddy's, and while the buzz saw kill is pretty good, the segment as a whole never amounts to much.
Another Cabin immediately loses me with its art direction. This one feels much more like a passion project than something designed to entertain or frighten an audience. There may be an interesting idea buried underneath all the stylistic choices, but I was never invested enough to care. Thankfully, it is pretty short, so at least it does not overstay its welcome.
Heartbeat is where the collection finally starts showing some promise. The writing and direction are noticeably better right from the start, making this segment feel like an actual horror short rather than an experimental film looking for an audience. Elie Kaempfen is charming and interesting to watch, but Julie Clergerie is easily the standout. She is so new to acting in movies that I could not even find an IMDb page for her, as far as I know, although she does have several videos on YouTube that appear to be audition tapes. She is beautiful, seems to have genuinely enjoyed making the film, and ends up being the most entertaining part of the entire collection. It is refreshing to see a segment that actually manages to hold my attention.
The humor connecting the segments is awful. Instead of giving the collection some personality or making the transitions more entertaining, these moments repeatedly interrupt whatever momentum the individual shorts manage to build. An anthology already has to contend with constantly changing stories and characters, so the last thing it needs is unfunny material reminding you that you are watching a collection of shorts.
The Music of Mr. Sze starts with a self insert and does not improve much from there. The segment feels more interested in indulging its own ideas than telling an engaging story. There are some interesting visuals once the alien elements come into play, and parts of it reminded me of Iron Lung, but visual appeal can only do so much when the writing is not particularly compelling. It has moments that catch your attention, but not enough to make the segment work as a whole.
Premature Burial opens with plenty of religious imagery, but there is a metal band playing throughout the entire segment. It left me wondering whether I was watching a horror short or a music video. The answer turns out to be the latter, because the music seems to be the entire point. There is nothing wrong with incorporating music into horror, but this segment never gives me much reason to care about anything beyond the soundtrack. It feels less like a horror story and more like an excuse to put a metal performance on screen.
Death Tone opens with Neela Jolene and immediately gives off the same kind of energy as Studio 666, which seems to have influenced the segment. Jolene has talent, although her acting still needs some work. RZA directs this one, and it is clear he understands what he is doing behind the camera. The problem is that the segment prioritizes gore over genuine scares. There is enough blood and violence to keep horror fans interested, but being graphic is not the same as being frightening. Still, it is one of the better segments here and helps make the collection feel less like a complete waste of time.
V/H/S/Mixtape is a disappointing collection that has a few worthwhile moments buried beneath uninspired writing, questionable art direction, and humor that repeatedly falls flat. Some segments seem more interested in expressing the filmmakers' personal visions than entertaining an audience, while others mistake gore or visual experimentation for effective horror. Heartbeat and Death Tone are the clear highlights, with Julie Clergerie providing the collection's most pleasant surprise. Those two segments save this anthology from being outright awful, but there is not enough here to make the entire collection worth recommending. Result: C-
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